Czech official in charge of EU subsidies convicted of bribery

The court ruled that he wanted the applicants for the subsidies to give him at least 1.7 million crowns and he accepted 255,000 crowns.

The court also convicted another six co-defendants, three of whom have received five-year prison sentences and three suspended sentences.

The verdict has not yet taken effect.

The court dealt with the case since last December and it all but agreed with the state attorney's office.

According to it, Kusnierz wanted commissions from the granted subsidies through three friends of his.

The court eventually ruled that they asked for at least 1.7 million crowns and accepted a large part of it.

Kusnierz eventually obtained 255,000 crowns, the judge said.

Kusnierz has pleaded not-guilty, claiming that the friends apparently abused his name.

Kusnierz was also given a five-year ban on work with European subsidies and was fined 750,000 crowns. If he does not pay the sum, he will have to spend one more year in prison.

Three co-defendants received five-year prison sentences and were fined 300,000 crowns each.

The three applicants for EU subsidies received 12 to 24-month suspended sentences.

The police were checking three projects, a hotel with the subsidy of 12 million crowns, the Penzion Villa Mannesman in Chomutov, north Bohemia, with the planned subsidy of 15 million crowns and the reconstruction of a football pitch in Jirkov-Ervenice.

According to the state attorney, the defendants demanded 10 percent as a usual commission for European subsidies.

The drafter of the first project stopped cooperating with the group after a time and alerted the police. He was given a 12-month suspended sentence and as the only one was not fined.

($1 = 20.712 crowns)

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz