ABA ROLI Fellowship Equips Croatian Fraud Investigators with Skills to Lead Major Corporate Corruption Investigation

ISFI investigators learn about software used by New York District Attorney's Office investigators to analyze financial records in complex investigations.

This week, Croatian police arrested former executives with the food and retail conglomerate Agrokor, which until recently was the largest private corporation in the western Balkans until a liquidity and debt crisis led the company to be placed in state receivership last April. Agrokor was so large that economists fear its collapse could push the Croatian economy into a recession. The State Prosecutor issued arrest warrants for fifteen Agrokor senior executives for financial and economic crimes, which followed a months-long investigation into the causes of the company’s collapse. The investigation was led by the Independent Sector for Financial Investigations (ISFI), a new, independent body within the Croatian Tax Administration mandated to investigate financial and tax crimes. While the credit for this complex, multinational investigation certainly belongs to the skilled investigators who worked on the case, ISFI investigators were quick to share credit for their success – not just with their counterparts in the police and prosecution, but also with ABA ROLI.

In February 2017, ISFI leadership traveled to the US to participate in a month-long ABA ROLI International Justice Sector Education and Training (IJET) Fellowship. The IJET Program creates tailored fellowships for justice professionals who have a vision for targeted, sustainable change in their country’s justice system and pairs them with experienced U.S. mentors. During a month of training, professional exchanges, and mentorship, IJET Fellows develop a Change Plan to be implemented, with ABA ROLI’s ongoing support, in their agency or institution. The ISFI Change Plan focused on improving ISFI’s cooperation with prosecutors and increasing ISFI investigators’ skills in conducting complex international investigations, both of which were essential in the Agrokor investigation. The ISFI leadership expressed that the IJET program was invaluable in developing their skills to conduct this investigation, and Croatian media reported that the month-long training program was essential to helping investigators carry out the complex Agrokor investigation.

To learn more about our International Justice Sector Education and Training (IJET) Fellowship, please contact the ABA Rule of Law Initiative at rol@americanbar.org.