Former MP and his son sold 1.2 million fake Covid tests

(Patria) - Filip Mihalić, known as 'corona kid', and his father Anđelko, a former HDZ MP, have been detained for selling 1.2 million fake Covid tests worth 700,000 euros.

They are under investigation for counterfeiting medical products, and the younger Mihalić also for money laundering.

The Varaždin police yesterday, without revealing their identities, announced that after a months-long criminal investigation, they arrested two men aged 25 and 65 from the Varaždin County area on suspicion of counterfeiting drugs or medical products.

The younger Mihalić is also charged with money laundering, and after questioning at the prosecutor's office, the investigating judge ordered pre-trial detention for both.

According to media reports, the Mihalićs started their own production of Covid tests in Turkey, which were procured by hospitals, health centers, public health institutes, and commodity reserves, and in uncovering their misdeeds, the police cooperated with criminal investigators from China and Turkey.

The police statement says that during 2022, through their company, they "bought machines and items from a supplier in China that, by their purpose and specification, are suitable for making Covid tests and accompanying items for the tests, as well as making packaging for those tests."

The purchased equipment, they add, was handed over to a company based in Turkey, where they "started production and delivery of counterfeit Xiamen Boson Biotech Covid tests to a trading company in which they were responsible persons."

From September 2022 to January 2023, with false accompanying documentation, they imported nearly 1.4 million counterfeit tests into Croatia, which resemble the originals in appearance and properties.

In Croatia and the EU, they then sold at least 1.2 million non-original tests for more than 700,000 euros.

The criminal investigation also established that the 25-year-old, from January to April 2023, withdrew money from the company's account and "paid a certain amount as credit transfers or loans into the accounts of other persons."

"He paid most of the seized money to himself as cash, which he further transferred for unknown purposes as legally obtained money, thereby, as the responsible person of the trading company, committed the criminal offense of money laundering," the Varaždin police stated.

The suspects were handed over to the detention supervisor of the Varaždin Police Department on Saturday, January 25, along with a criminal complaint.

After conducted interrogations at the Varaždin County State Attorney's Office and the Varaždin County Court, the investigating judge ordered pre-trial detention for both.

For counterfeiting drugs, the Croatian Criminal Code prescribes a prison sentence of up to eight years, while for money laundering, the maximum possible sentence is five years in prison.