FOUNDER OF BANKRUPT FOOD FIRM EXTRADITED

British authorities are extraditing the founder of an indebted food and retail company who is Croatia’s most-wanted fugitive.

Croatian state TV said Ivica Todoric boarded an airplane in London under police escort for a flight to Zagreb on Wednesday. Todoric is accused in Croatia of mismanaging the Agrokor company and embezzling millions. He was arrested in the British capital a year ago under a European arrest warrant. Todoric has said he is innocent. A London court rejected his appeal last month and agreed to send him to Croatia.

Agrokor accounts for 15 per cent of Croatia’s GDP and employs 60,000 people throughout the Balkans. The company has collapsed under the weight of 6 billion euros in debt ($9 billion) and was put into state administration over a year ago. Criminal prosecutions have begun in Croatia against 14 senior figures at Agrokor, including Todoric, on suspicions of corruption and forgery, the BBC reported.