Quoting an unofficial source, the paper says that 12 suspects, including very likely Kovačič, have been reported in connection to the bank's overpaid land acquisitions in Croatia as well as over a dodgy EUR 6.5m loan approved in 2009 to Pom-Invest.

The prosecution would neither reject nor confirm allegations that the case is about NKBM's deals in Croatia, made between 2004 and 2007.

Kovačič, who was at the helm of the bank between 2005 and 2011, said he knew nothing of the criminal reports, while repeating that responsibility for the Croatian deals lies with the executives of the NKBM's subsidiaries in Croatia at the time.

Unofficially the suspects also include Manja Skernišak, a member of the management board led by Kovačič, supervisors and bankers formally responsible for key decisions in Croatia, as well the executives in Croatia.

The are being accused of illegal gains and abuse of office, which means they could face between one and eight years in prison.

Under Kovačič's watch NKBM had been buying land in Croatia slated for complex construction projects, mostly through its Croatian subsidiary Multiconsult.

In most cases it purchased the plots - on which nothing was built eventually - by taking over smaller local companies, which had bought the same plots just before that and with money lent by NKBM.

Multiconsult allegedly paid much more than the local firms had and the overpaid money ended up in private pockets. Police speak about EUR 28m.

That the land in Croatia was overpaid was reportedly also confirmed by an internal audit carried out at NBKM following warnings about irregularities.

While these are the first criminal charges, the first civil proceedings related to a series of damages suits brought by the NKBM bank against former executives began in January.