Corruption in Liberec: the police are looking for the owner of the Syner company, but cannot find him

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In the case where they are investigating suspicions of corruption at the town hall in Liberec, the police are looking for the owner of the large construction company Syner Petar Syrovátko.

According to information from Seznam Zpráv, he is supposed to be among the eight people the police are already prosecuting or want to prosecute – however, the detectives have not yet managed to deliver him a resolution to initiate criminal prosecution.

The supervising Regional State Prosecutor’s Office in Ústí nad Labem also confirmed that the police have not yet been able to find one of the suspects. The name of this person was not given. “Yes, I can confirm this information. We will not comment on his identity yet,” said Kateřina Doušová, deputy regional prosecutor.

Since Tuesday’s intervention by the National Headquarters against Organized Crime, Syrovátko has not answered the phone or answered messages. Ondřej Paclt, Syner’s spokesman, only said on Tuesday evening that Syrovátko had not been detained or charged.

On Wednesday, the Paclt spokesperson stated that Syner won the last order from Liberec in 2010. It was worth less than 900,000.

According to the police, Syrovátko’s accomplice is Petr Židek from the ODS, the deputy mayor of Liberec. The Jew’s cell phone has been switched off since Tuesday.

On Thursday, the Syner company issued a statement that Syrovátko would turn himself in to the police. “Petr Syrovátko is on a trip abroad and is in contact with the relevant investigation authorities all the time. Petr Syrovátko will return to the Czech Republic as soon as possible to assist in the investigation of the entire matter, the Police of the Czech Republic is continuously informed of his return,” the company said.

Prosecutors: Face 12 years

Seznam Zprávy already wrote on Tuesday that the case concerns Syner, one of the ten largest construction companies in the Czech Republic. The police officers suspect that bribes were paid during contracts for this Liberec company. They did not list specific tenders.

“This is a criminal activity of a corrupt nature related to the misuse of a public office to obtain benefits or information advantages for other entities in connection with the property operations of the Statutory City of Liberec,” added Doušová from the regional prosecutor’s office.

The current deputy mayor, Židek, was detained by the police in 2009 when he was working at the police presidium. It was because of the suspicion that he had been promised a bribe in a contract to buy a police truck. Detectives were also investigating him because of a questionable contract for computer equipment.

They arrested the official

Detectives are prosecuting another six people in another part of the case, which also involves bribes, this time for manipulated road contracts in Liberec and the town of Smržovce.

“One of the accused persons is an official of the Municipality of Liberec, who faces a prison sentence of three to ten years for this criminal activity,” added Doušová. According to Deník N, the accused official is Lukáš Hýbler, head of the municipal property management department.

According to the server Our Liberec the police are also looking for Bagro-Trans and JK Silnice. “I’m lying at home with a fever, I don’t know about any problem with the police,” Petr Ressel, owner of Bagro-Trans, told Seznam Zprávám already on Tuesday.

In the third branch of the case, according to the public prosecutor’s office, the investigation is still underway, and no one has been charged. Prosecutors did not specify what the case is about.

On Wednesday afternoon or late in the evening, prosecutors will decide whether to propose to the court to take any of the accused into custody.

In the text, we added the Syner company’s statement that its owner will report to the police after returning to the Czech Republic.