In the alleged corporate tunneling case, criminal investigators indicted ten people on suspicion of tax evasion, money laundering and breach of duty in the management of foreign property.

The court decided on custody rights for Rittig’s brother, lawyer and company manager Peskim Petar Michal, lawyer Rittig Karolína Babáková, and company founders Oleo Chemical Michal Urbanek and Kamil Jirounk.

“For me, on the one hand, what is important for the court in justifying its decision is to state that criminal charges were carried out fairly, that’s one side of the coin. The second is that we have a different opinion from the court, but we have to respect the decision,” said Bradáčová.

Verdict as soon as possible

Although the denial of a bond request could complicate an investigation, he said, it should be done as quickly as possible. “So that the final verdict, a decision on benefits, is made as soon as possible,” added Prague’s chief prosecutor.

Of the four defendants decided by the court today, Borgula suggested detaining two for possible witness influence and the other two for the possibility of escaping and continuing criminal activity. That afternoon, he withdrew the motion to detain the other accused because he believed there was no longer any danger of him influencing witnesses. Said the former manager of the Peskim company Jana Šádková.

Jirounk’s lawyer, Eduard Bruna, called the Liberec court’s decision correct. He did not want to comment on the accusations. Babaková’s lawyer, David Michal, was not surprised by the court’s decision regarding custody, he called the allegations a continuation of harassment by the High Prosecutor’s Office against their law firm MSB Legal (formerly Šachta&Partners). According to him, Babaková had completed several house searches since Friday.

For the other ten defendants, the prosecution did not request detention, but instead proposed revoking one person’s passport. According to Bradáčová, the proposal has not yet been decided, the Liberec court will probably issue a verdict next week. Police arrested most of the accused on Friday, Rittig, his lawyer David Michal and head of operations for Oleo Chemical Radomír Kučera were released without a request for detention over the weekend. Rittig’s business partner, Peter Kmeť, representing Cokeville Assets of the Virgin Islands, who was also implicated in the case, was also indicted in the case. He was not even detained and therefore the prosecution did not seek custody of him, Katarína Kožiaková Oboňová, attorney for Rittiga and Kmetá, told ČTK.

Friday’s catch

On Friday, the police intervened in various places in Prague over the case. The current case concerns supplies for the state fuel distributor Čepro. Previously, Rittig was accused along with Kmet, Michal and another lobbyist attorney Mark Stubley in a case of allegedly overpriced tickets for a Prague transport company. However, according to lobbyist lawyers, the Oleo Chemical case has nothing to do with the transportation company, even though the allegations are based on a similar contract with Cokeville Assets as in the ticket case.

Apart from David Michal and Babaková, Stubley and Rittig’s current attorney, Oboňová, also works for the law office MSB Legal. MSB Legal has also acted in other cases, for example the alleged manipulation of contracts for the digitization of medical records at the Na Homolce Hospital in Prague. Apparently, because of this case, the anti-corruption police intervened directly in the MSB Law last year. In addition, Michal’s lawyers were accused in the case of leaking information from the BIS, again with Rittig and also former head of Prime Minister Petr Nečas’ cabinet, Jana Nagyová, now Nečasová.