Croatia's Polancec charged with financial scam
10/09/2010
ZAGREB, Croatia -- The Office for Preventing Corruption announced on Thursday (September 9th) it has pressed charges against former Economy Minister Damir Polancec for financial scam and abuse of power. Polancec, who resigned in October 2009, was detained in March. Investigators say that between 2005 and 2009, he and seven others intended to buy out shares of the local food producer Podravka and take over the firm using its own money, which cost the country 34.5m euros in losses. Polancec worked for the company before joining the government. He'd also held the post of deputy prime minister before resigning last fall. (Nacional, AP, Radio Free Europe - 09/09/10)