Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic sacked his health minister on Friday, while European Union prosecutors announced they had launched an investigation into the minister and several other officials.
“The prime minister dismissed Vili Beros from his ministerial post,” a government spokesman said.
The announcement was followed by a statement from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Zagreb, saying it had launched a probe into eight individuals, including Beros and the directors of two hospitals in the capital.
The EPPO accused the suspects of involvement in a scheme to secure “undue financial gains” and said “several relevant stakeholders”, including Beros, were alleged to have accepted bribes.
“All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the competent Croatian courts,” it stressed.
Earlier on Friday, Croatian daily Jutarnji List reported that Beros had been taken into custody following a raid on his home.
The paper said the arrest was connected to an ongoing probe into a scheme involving the procurement of medical equipment.
Croatia’s bureau for the fight against organised crime and corruption said authorities were making arrests and urgently gathering evidence in Zagreb and the southern town of Skradin.
The arrests concerned “several people, one of whom is a high-ranking government official, who are reasonably suspected of having committed corrupt criminal acts”, it said.
Since taking power in 2016, several ministers from Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic’s conservative HDZ party have stepped down amid graft allegations.
Add Comment