Croatian health minister arrested and fired over alleged graft

SARAJEVO (Reuters) -Croatian Health Minister Vili Beros was fired on Friday after being arrested on suspicion of corruption, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said.

Beros' lawyer Laura Valkovic told local media that her client denied any criminal responsibility. The health ministry declined to comment.

The prime minister's comments came after Croatia's Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) said it was conducting several arrests.

The European Public Prosecutor's Office also said it had initiated an investigation against eight people, including Beros and the directors of two hospitals in Zagreb, over alleged bribery, abuse of authority and money laundering.

Croatia's State Attorney Ivan Turudic, whose office works closely with USKOK, said there were two parallel investigations into the alleged crimes and that the European prosecutors had not informed his office or USKOK about their investigation.

The EPPO said that a criminal group seeking to secure financing for the sale of medical robotic devices in several hospitals was suspected of giving bribes to officials to try to win contracts for projects, including EU-funded ones.

The EPPO confirmed in a statement to Reuters that it had not informed Croatian national authorities of its investigation, which was launched in July, adding it had asked the State Attorney’s Office (DORH) to transfer its case file to the EPPO.

Turudic said Beros was accused of trading in influence. He said two other individuals had been arrested and one legal entity would be investigated on suspicion of the criminal act of receiving a bribe.

The people detained will be brought before an investigative judge who will decide on any pre-trial detention, Turudic told a news conference.

"What is obvious is that this is about criminal acts of corruption," Plenkovic said. "On behalf of the government, I want to say that agencies authorised for criminal persecution should investigate everything."

(Reporting by Daria Sito-SucicEditing by Toby Chopra, Edward McAllister, Alison Williams and Frances Kerry)

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