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List of alleged Czech police extortion gang collaborators widens by 15

  11:57

Up to 15 more suspects, including at least one Czech state prosecutor and a judge, could be arrested in the so-called ‘Tofl Gang’ case 

Police say former detective Miloš Almásy was the right-hand man of the gang's boss, Michal Tofl, who was murdered last summer foto: © ČTKČeská pozice

Up to 200 people have overcome their fears and come forward to give evidence in an investigation into a gang of current and former policemen who are suspected of running an extortion racket in Brno, the second-largest Czech city, Hospodářské noviny (HN) reported on Friday.

Thanks to the new evidence, police are reportedly set to arrest up to 15 more suspects.The alleged members of the “Brno police mafia” — dubbed the “Tofl Gang” after the criminal detective Michal Tofl who was shot dead at his home in Brno in the summer 2010 — are suspected of operating an extortion racket from 1998 through to 2010.

The gang allegedly forced local entrepreneurs and businessmen to pay protection money (from several thousand to tens of millions of crowns) using threats of violence and the launch of criminal proceedings.According to HN’s information, hundres of witnesses have named up to 15 more suspects who allegedly took part in extortion and manipulation of police investigations. And these fresh suspects reportedly include at least two judges and a state prosecutor.

‘We are doing everything to ensure that the pre-trial proceedings don’t take more than a year’“Around 200 witnesses have come forward. But this phase [the questing of witnesses] is the responsibility of the joint team from the Police Inspectorate and Anti-Organized Crime Unit (ÚOOZ),” Martin Brzobohatý from the prosecutor’s office in Olomouc, which is overseeing the case, told HN.  

Three former police officers, one serving policeman and two civilians were arrested in August on suspicion of being involved in the Tofl Gang. The state prosecution service in Olomouc says it hopes the case will be passed to the courts within a year.   

“The questioning of witnesses is still continuing. We are doing everything to ensure that the pre-trial proceedings don’t take more than a year. I cannot, however, comment on the course of the investigation or the possibility of other people being charged,” Brzobohatý told HN, adding that the investigation has experienced some delays due to the absence of several witnesses and suspects.

Police previously announced that the gang was headed by Tofl, who was seconded by former criminal detective and trainee lawyer Miloš Almásy. They also named Rudolf Setvák, a former high-ranking police officer with the Police Inspectorate, as a key figure; he allegedly protected the gang from internal police enquiries.

Setvák, however, was released from custody on Nov. 3, together with Eduard Polák, who is suspected of threatening the gang’s victims with violence. Police said they were released on bail because they had cooperated with the investigation team. Other alleged gang members Petr Křipský, Eduard Slanina, Zdeněk Olah and Miloš Almásy remain in custody.

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Šárka Hamrusová: Díky laktační poradkyni jsem si přestala myslet, že je chyba ve mně
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