Following a defence motion, the Office for the Prevention of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) has ordered a graphological analysis of signatures in the notebook of the HDZ's former accountant Branka Pavosevic based on which the ruling party has been accused of setting up slush funds, the HDZ's defence attorney Vladimir Gredelj said in a statement on Thursday.
The HDZ has been under investigation for nearly a year and a half for allegedly syphoning funds from state-owned companies, agencies and government ministries through the privately-owned marketing firm Fimi Media. Some of the money is suspected to have ended up in the party's slush funds and is believed to have been used, among other things, to finance election campaigns. In October this year, USKOK widened the investigation of 19 suspects to include the HDZ as a legal entity.
Media reports have said that USKOK's suspicions are partly based on the notebook of former HDZ accountant Branka Pavosevic in which she allegedly recorded money transfers from and into the party's slush funds.
