Police have charged three more people in relation to a controversial bitcoin donation to the Justice Ministry, the High Prosecution Office has announced. According to media reports, the accused are former justice minister Pavel Blazek (formerly ODS), his former deputy Radomir Danhel, and lawyer Karim Titz.
The news was reported yesterday by Seznam Zpravy, Denik N, and iROZHLAS.
Titz is a defence lawyer who represented programmer Tomas Jirikovsky, who donated the bitcoins to the state last year.
Radim Dragoun, chief of the High Public Prosecutor’s Office (VSZ) in Olomouc, wrote in a statement that the national police unit fighting organised crime (NCOZ) has charged three more people over the controversial donation, on suspicion of money laundering and abuse of office. The accused are being prosecuted at liberty, he said.
Jirikovsky has been charged with suspected money laundering and for the operation of the Nucleus Market darknet marketplace. He has been in pre-trial custody since last August.
Blazek resigned over the bitcoin scandal last year, but claimed that he had not done anything illegal by accepting the gift. An audit ordered by Blazek’s successor Eva Decroix (ODS) argued that the ministry failed to conduct the mandatory preliminary review of the cryptocurrency’s origin as required by law, and, in violation of internal regulations, did not request or prepare a comprehensive legal opinion on the contract. The audit also showed that Danhel had direct responsibility for accepting the controversial donation, while Blazek had key information about the transaction.
In March, the Czech Bar Association filed a disciplinary complaint against Titz, accusing him of failing to thoroughly verify the origin of the bitcoins that his convicted client donated to the state.
According to the Olomouc High Prosecutor’s Office, all three of the accused abused their power. Two of the defendants are being prosecuted as perpetrators in connection with this crime, and one as a person involved in the crime. They are also being prosecuted on two counts of money laundering. They face up to 12 years in prison.
The case concerns last year’s donation of bitcoins worth CZK 1 billion to the Ministry of Justice from Jirikovsky, who had previously been convicted of embezzlement, drug trafficking, and illegal possession of weapons. According to the police, Jirikovsky concealed the criminal origin of the bitcoins.
