Čtvrtek 28. března 2024, svátek má Soňa
130 let

Lidovky.cz

Minister Chalupa explains great audit coincidence

  11:00

Auditing firm Auditing Dykast is connected to all the companies into which Prague 6, 10 and 13 indirectly invested a billion crowns

Poté, co se Tomáš Chalupa stal členem vlády, Vladislav Dykast (vlevo) nastoupil do funkce ředitele kabinetu ministra. foto: © ČTK, ČESKÁPOZICEČeská pozice

The link between the companies and politicians involved in the Key Investments affair has finally been exposed. Auditing Dykast is the auditor of the investment firm Key Investments to which the administrations of Prague 6, 10 and 13 entrusted a total of almost Kč 1 billion. Auditing Dykast also works for the firm E Side Property, whose bonds Key Investments purchased for the portfolios of the Prague districts.

It so happens that the owner of Auditing Dykast is the uncle of Vladislav Dykast, director of the Department of the Office of the Minister of Environment. And the Minister of Environment is Tomáš Chalupa, who was mayor of Prague 6 from 2002 until 2011 when the district entrusted almost Kč 600 million of Prague 6 public funds to Key Investments.        

Is it just a coincidence? There are currently 1,290 active auditors in the Czech Republic, so the odds of the connection being a chance appear to be pretty slim. By this we don’t mean to say that Vladislav Dykast is responsible for the activities of his uncle’s firm, but Tomáš Chalupa needs to explain the circumstances that have come to light in order to dispel suspicions of cronyism.

According to the company register, the family firm Auditing Dykast, which belongs to Jaroslav Dykast and Marie Dykastová, has audited Key Investments’ books at least since 2005. Auditing Dykast has a number of other clients, and the fact that they include the firm to which Tomáš Chalupa entrusted Kč 500 million does not in itself prove anything.

Auditing Dykast’s clients also include E Side Property, the owner of Slavia Prague FC’s stadium.

However, Auditing Dykast’s clients also include E Side Property, the owner of Slavia Prague FC’s stadium, whose bonds Key Investments bought for the investment portfolios of Prague 6, 10 and 13.

And that’s not all: Auditing Dykast has audited another company whose bonds were purchased by Key Investments for the three Prague districts. The firm in question is Sincom Leasing, which was renamed Borsay last year. Both Borsay and E Side Property are controlled by the company Key Oak Limited, whose books Auditing Dykast has also checked. In July 2007, Key Oak Limited acquired a stake in the firm Spolek pro chemickou a hutní výrobu (Spolchemie), which is part of the Via Chem Group. And Key Investments acquired more than 92,000 Spolchemie shares for the portfolio of Prague 6.           

In addition to the above-mentioned companies, Auditing Dykast began performing audits for Slavia Football Club in 2008. Until 2007, Deloitte & Touche was the auditor for SK Slavia Praha–fotbal, and Auditing Dykast took over the auditing activities at the club after the firm Key Investments became Slavia’s majority shareholder by raising the company’s basic capital with dubious non-cash assets.          

“The connections mentioned really are speculation,” Jaroslav Dykast responded when asked by Czech Position to explain his firm’s ties to the companies mentioned, adding that his firm performs audits on the basis of valid legal contracts and in accordance with the Czech law on accountancy and according to international accounting standards. He also claims that he does not know Tomáš Chalupa and that the former Prague 6 mayor did not consult with him about investments into securities, and he has never worked for Prague 6.

Vladislav Dykast (32) and Tomáš Chalupa (36) belong to the young generation of Prague Civic Democrat (ODS) politicians. While Chalupa became Prague 6 mayor in 2002, Dykast joined the ODS in 2000 and began work as an apprentice in the Prague city administration and then became an assistant to the director of the administration. In 2003, Dykast was appointed director of the city administration’s housing department, where he remained until recently. Dykast became director of the Department of the Office of the Minister of Environment upon Chalupa’s appointment as minister.     

Questions for Minister Chalupa 

Czech Position has asked Tomáš Chalupa for responses to the following questions:

  1. Jaroslav Dykast, the uncle of the director of your office and friend Vladislav Dykasta, has been the auditor for the company Key Investments basically since you decided to invest Prague 6 money through that firm. Auditing Dykast audits for two firms, E Side Property and Borsay, whose bonds Key Investments bought for Prague 6’s investment portfolio. Further, Auditing Dykast performs auditing for Key Oak, a shareholder in the company Spolchemie whose shares (92,000) Key Investments also bought for Prague 6’s portfolio. Spolchemie is part of the Via Chem Group whose bonds Key Investments also bought for Prague 6’s portfolio. Does this mean that all four companies whose securities Key Investments bought for Prague 6 are directly or indirectly linked to the firm Auditing Dykast?
  2. Do you know Jaroslav Dykast?
  3. Has Mr. Dykasta’s firm worked for you or your family?
  4. Did you consult with Jaroslav Dykast or representatives of his firm about the investment of Prague 6 money through Key Investments?
  5. Did the company Auditing Dykast receive any work from Prague 6 when you were mayor of the district?    
Czech position received the following responses from Minister Tomáš Chalupa’s office:
  1. Vladislav Dykast has been Director of the Department of the Office of the Minister of Environment for less than a month, prior to which the Minister did not have any work relations with Mr. Dykast.
  2. Vladislav Dykast is not a personal friend of the minister’s family. Their relationship is purely professional and social.
  3. Minister Chalupa does not know the company Auditing Dykast and never cooperated with the company as mayor, minister, MP, nor as a private individual. Minister Chalupa does not know Jaroslav Dykast and has not worked with him in any way as mayor, minister, MP, nor as a private individual. The Minister’s family does not know Jaroslav Dykast nor the company mentioned and has never worked together or cooperated with him or the company. The Minister does not know anything about the activities and clients of the company.
  4. [Minister Chalupa] did not know until now that Vladislav Dyakast and Jaroslav Dykast are related: He received this information from you.
  5. The minister therefore categorically refutes all of the speculation you mention. The Minister expressly requests that this statement of position is not edited.   
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