The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, after an internal investigation, only reported irregularities related to the calculation of travel orders for several of its IT specialists, which led to today's 'raid' by USKOK and EPPO at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the ministry announced in a statement.
USKOK and the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) reported on Tuesday that they are conducting so-called urgent evidentiary actions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs due to possible illegalities regarding the use of money from the state budget and the European Internal Security Fund.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration responded very quickly.
"At the end of January this year, after conducting an extensive analysis of its expert services, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia reported to USKOK irregularities observed in the calculation of travel orders for several employees from the technical domain of IT support at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs."
"The competent institutions are currently taking action," the statement added.
As reported in Zrinjevac, none of the suspects are known to the general public.
Under suspicion that they were using travel orders to siphon money from the EU and the Croatian budget, which led to a joint operation by USKOK and EPPO.
Both institutions state that they conduct urgent evidentiary actions in accordance with the principle of loyal cooperation.
The EPPO and USKOK emphasize that after questioning the suspects, a decision will be made on further action, i.e. whether to initiate an investigation against the suspects and request pre-trial detention, which they will inform the public about in a timely manner, and until then, no additional details will be published.
USKOK is a specialized office of the Croatian State Attorney's Office for the fight against corruption and organized crime, while the EPPO is responsible for investigations, prosecutions and indictments for criminal offences against the EU's financial interests.
Photo: FAH/Denis Cerić
