Former deputy Prime Minister, Boris Milosevic, on Thursday denied the allegations of incitement to the illegal award of state subsidies in a case initiated after the arrest of former construction minister Darko Horvat, his lawyer told the press after an hour-long interview with corruption investigators.

Lawyer Anto Nobilo said there was no proof that his client had incited someone to commit crime, adding that the investigation was nearing completion.

“Milosevic was used as a fig leaf to cover up an ongoing operation, and he was not aware of it.  Milosevic submitted only two lists to rectify the irregularities in the award of funding,” Nobilo said, adding that his client did not break the law and was working in the interests of his voters.

Milosevic, now serving as a member of Parliament for the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), did not speak to the press.

The USKOK anti-corruption office suspects that Horvat and his aide Ana Mandac, acting at the urging of four other suspects, awarded 2.6 million kuna (€347,000) in grants to businesses in which he held a personal interest. One of the suspects is former agriculture minister Tomislav Tolusic, who was again arrested on Thursday, this time on the orders of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

All the other suspects gave their statements to USKOK investigators previously.

Recently the parliament stripped Milosevic of immunity from prosecution at the request of the State Attorney’s Office after it had launched the probe into him in March on the suspicion that he incited corruption, i.e. illegal allocation of state subsidies.