British prosecution service confirmed to N1 on Friday that Ivica Todoric’s request to appeal the earlier court ruling, which determined there were no legal obstacles for his extradition to Croatia, was rejected.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court had ruled in April this year that there was no reason for Ivica Todoric to not be extradited to Croatia, where he is wanted over investigation into business practices which led his food and retail conglomerate Agrokor to the verge of bankruptcy last year.

Todoric’s permission to appeal was rejected on July 24, but he requested an application to renew permission. The new hearing is scheduled for September 6. This is the last legal step before his extradition, and if his permission is rejected again, Todoric has no other legal means to fight the April court ruling and avoid being extradited to Croatia.

After the crisis in the Agrokor conglomerate began in 2017, Todoric fled to London,where he was arrested in November. He was released on bail, and the court had ruled he would remain free, with strict security measures in place, until the final decision on his extradition to Croatia is reached.

Experts in April estimated that the entire extradition process might be prolonged by appeals by three to six months.

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