Billionaire retail tycoon Miroslav Miskovic, one of Serbia's most influential figures, was arrested with his son and seven other people on Wednesday, Dec 12, as part of an anti-graft probe, Reuters reported citing a government official.
"They are suspected of siphoning funds and property from privatized road maintenance companies and making financial gains of as much as 30 million euros ($39 million)," the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
Estimated to be Serbia's richest man, Miskovic has interests in retail, agribusiness, real estate and insurance in Serbia and the Balkan region.
He created his Delta Holding empire under late strongman Slobodan Milosevic during Yugoslavia's bloody collapse in the 1990s and expanded it after his ouster in 2000.
Miskovic, 67, was worth a billion dollars in 2007, according to Forbes, wealth which at the time placed him among the richest 1,000 people in the world.
In 2011 he sold his Delta Maxi supermarket chain to Delhaize, a Belgium-based retailer, for 932.5 million euros ($1.3 billion), one of the largest foreign investments ever in the European Union applicant country.
Miskovic has twice been questioned by police in the past 10 days. Delta Holding, on behalf of Miskovic, has repeatedly denied any irregularities in its business dealings.
The company employs 7,200 people and turned over 1.42 billion euros ($1.85 billion) last year, according to its website.
Among those arrested are Miskovic's son Marko, who police last week prevented from leaving the country, and Milo Djuraskovic, the owner of a now-bankrupt group of road maintenance companies called Nibens.
The government official said they would be remanded in custody for 48 hours and questioned by organized crime prosecutors.
