Lidovky.cz pointed out the shift in the case. “Yesterday (Thursday) I filed charges against five natural persons, one of whom is a member of the police, one person is a member of the customs administration and one person is a public prosecutor,” Lenka Bradáčová, the head of the council, who oversees the case, told the server. Máchová’s lawyer Vít Široký added that the matter will be resolved by the District Court of Prague-East.
According to criminal investigators, the head of the anti-corruption police department, Holub, the Central Bohemian customs officer Šíma and the plaintiff Máchová, illegally passed information to private detective Gáborík, for example from the cases of Na Homolce Hospital or the Prague Transport Company. Gáborík then allegedly continued to provide them to his clients.
The group faces charges for criminal offenses of abuse of power by an official, acceptance of a bribe, bribery, unauthorized access to a computer system and information carrier, violation of the secrecy of documents and participation.
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The most severe punishment is for accepting a bribe by an official, three to ten years in prison or forfeiture of property. Courts can impose up to six years in prison for bribing an official, up to four years for unauthorized access to the system, and up to five years in prison for remaining crimes.
The indictment took place in the spring of 2016
The police accused Gáborík, Šíma and Holub in May 2016, and the police started prosecuting Mácha five months later. Zmrhal was accused of participation in the end of 2018. In May 2016, the Machins were confiscated all criminal cases in connection with the investigation of the Beretta case and the city public prosecutor’s office transferred her to the non-criminal section. After the prosecution began, the then Minister of Justice Robert Pelikán (for YES) temporarily relieved her of office. The woman is also known in the opencard case, for which she was investigated by the General Inspectorate of Security Forces.
The iRozhlas.cz server previously wrote on the basis of police protocols that “elite lawyers or top managers are also involved in the case”. The group allegedly worked in three ways: first, Gáborík obtained secret information from his accomplices about the investigation of specific cases, secondly, he bought documents from them, which he resold, and third, he had compromising materials produced. According to investigators, Máchová and Holub rewarded her for this, the plaintiff allegedly collected money at least once for taking out part of the file.
According to the police, Máchová and Gáborík, for example, brought information to the Great Britain, the prosecuted billionaire František Savov, the server said. At the request of Gáborík, Holub also allegedly made a false resolution on the investigation of lawyer Karel Muzikár. It was in this context that the Minister of Justice Marie Benešová (for YES) indicated that criminal prosecution could be ordered in the Czech Republic.
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The case was handled by the anti-drug headquarters due to the accusation of the anti-corruption police officer. Prior to that, it was dealt with by the Organized Crime Unit (ÚOOZ), which the police reform merged with the anti-corruption police in August 2016. Former ÚOOZ director Robert Šlachta claimed in the past that the impetus for the hasty police reorganization was the Beretta case.
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