Croatia charges pair over 1.3 million fake Covid tests

ZAGREB, CROATIA - A former Croatian lawmaker and his son were charged with producing over a million fake Covid-19 tests and selling them across several European countries during the pandemic, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The two men, aged 66 and 26, are accused of arranging the production of more than 1.3 million fake tests at an Istanbul factory between August 2022 and May 2023, northern Varazdin county prosecutors said in a statement.

The pair's company, which also imported real rapid Covid-19 tests from China, then allegedly sold the fake tests to companies and institutions in Croatia, Austria, Germany, Greece, Romania and Spain.

The scheme netted the company more than 445,000 euros (US$518,000), prosecutors allege.

Both men were charged with "counterfeiting medicines or medical products", and the 26-year-old also faces money-laundering charges.

The prosecutors did not provide their names, but local media identified them as a former lawmaker of the ruling HDZ party, Andjelko Mihalic, and his son Filip.

When the investigation into their activities started, local media dubbed Filip the "Corona Kid".

The two were briefly arrested earlier this year.

Mihalic served as a lawmaker from 2008 to 2011, well before the pandemic.