Czech Police have reportedly completed their investigation into Public Affairs (VV) founder Vít Bárta’s alleged cash bribes of ex-VV deputies and will recommend to the state prosecution service that it prosecute him, the news server aktualne.cz reported on Tuesday.
The head of the police investigation into the bribes allegedly paid by the VV de facto leader and paymaster, to MPs Jaroslav Škárka and Kristýna Kočí has summoned Bárta to report to police so that they can formally inform him about some of the details of the case report, aktualne.cz said.
“That’s how the investigator formulated it, but of course it’s the state prosecutor who will decide,” Bárta’s lawyer, Oldřich Chudoba, told the news server.
Police have also notified Škárka (now unaffiliated) about their completion of the investigation. “I’ve received notification that the police have enough evidence to file for prosecution. I’m glad that the whole case will be explained in court,” he told aktualne.cz.
VV is the smallest party in the Czech coalition government. Bárta was forced to resign from his post as transport minister in April after Škárka and Kočí (also now unaffiliated) turned over large amounts of cash which they said he had given them in return for keeping silent about in-party intrigues and party finances.
Kočí gave the police an envelope containing Kč 500,000 in cash and Škárka turned in some Kč 170,000. Bárta did not deny giving them the cash, but claimed it was a personal loan, though he failed to produce any evidence to back up the claim.
Bárta’s resignation was also precipitated by the release of a tape recording in which he told managers of the security firm ABL, which he founded, that he intended to enter politics in order gain more business for the family firm, now officially owned by his younger brother, Matěj. ‘Only me, Bárta and his driver were there ... so I don’t see why another nine witnesses should be interviewed.’
It will now be up to the Czech state prosecution service to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to prosecute Bárta; his lawyer, Chudoba, is insisting that another nine people be questioned as witnesses and the investigators must respond to the demand, a move that Škárka characterized as a delaying tactic.
“I consider that it’s a deliberate attempt to stall the whole process. Only me, Bárta and his driver were there when the bribe money changed hands, so I don’t see why another nine witnesses should be interviewed,” Škárka said.
