We bribed. Two defendants admitted that they corrupted the supervisor of a state company – Seznam Zpravy

On the primary day of the courtroom listening to concerning the case of corruption within the state group CzechTourism, two defendants confessed. They got here out as a result of they bribed Aleš Pangrác, who was the senior supervisor of the group that takes care of selling the Czech Republic as a vacationer vacation spot.

In response to the police, the 45-year-old Pangrác collected 5.2 million throughout his time at Czech Tourism – partly in accordance with the accusation of bribes for contracts, partly due to the cash he transferred to the businesses himself for varied faux jobs for the group. And he was unable to get one other 350,000 from the group as a result of he was arrested by the police within the fall of 2018.

“Lots of the issues reported within the indictment are unsuitable,” stated Pangrác, who labored on the company between 2015 and 2018, on the courtroom listening to on Tuesday.

Nonetheless, the businessmen Karel Zelený and Ivan Pernecký, who acquired orders from Czech Tourism, took benefit of the so-called responsible cost. This implies admitting that they’ve dedicated against the law even earlier than the interrogations start.

Karel Zelený is accused of bribing the previous supervisor of Pangrác with 130,000, for which he gained, for instance, the provide to advertise the CzechTourism model on the world championships in canoeing and hockey. Alternatively, Ivan Pernecký used the state funds to supply hospitality for the tennis Fed Cup finals or for exhibits at ski races. Once more in accordance with the conviction for 100 thousand bribe.

In response to the accusation, Pangrác lined up corruption – together with different points – via an organization during which he was not seen, however which he managed secretly. The indictment says that this firm invoiced the entrepreneurs for a false session, thus laundering the bribes.

“They knew that this was a bribe that was organized upfront,” stated public prosecutor Iva Bicanová in entrance of the courtroom, which recommends 5 years in jail for Pangrác.

Along with Pangrace, eleven different persons are on trial. Most of them denied any wrongdoing on Tuesday. Amongst them have been Petr Burian and Aleš Fialka, who owned the promoting company, who, in accordance with the accusation, gave a complete of two million in bribes to Pangrác.

In courtroom, their protection lawyer Pavel Kopa made an entire checklist of why the conviction is pointless: ​​Amongst different issues, he stated, it was as a result of the industrial had gross sales between 235 and 300 million. Whereas orders from CzechTourism accounted for less than a fraction of the revenue.

“That they had no purpose to take a threat,” stated the lawyer Kopa, who additionally confirmed that the implementation of contracts in Czech Tourism was utterly outdoors Pangráce – he was not on the analysis committee and didn’t ship he signed the ultimate award. Due to this fact, in accordance with the lawyer, it doesn’t make sense for the house owners of the promoting company.

Among the many defendants is David Trávníček, the founding father of Sport Make investments, which handles the advertising of Czech sports activities stars (Travníček has resigned from the corporate due to this case). In response to the case, Trávníček paid Pangráce 340,000 for cooperation in biking and snowboarding occasions.

Travněček didn’t seem in courtroom on Tuesday, he agreed to proceed with out him.

“All of the transactions talked about within the indictment about him befell with none irregularities that he was conscious of. He has no details about the opposite circumstances listed within the indictment. The entire affair has gone on for nearly six years and it’s damaging to Mr. Trávníček. Nonetheless, he believes that the entire case can be defined quickly and he can be free,” stated Trávníček’s lawyer, Jiří Váňa.