The court acquitted businessman Shenara of tax evasion charges for the third time – Nauzal

The first-instance court has already acquitted Shenar twice in the past, but the appeals panel overturned these decisions each time.

Judge Tome Frankič justified the acquittal by the fact that it was not proven that the act for which Shenar was accused took place. According to him, the witnesses and most of the documentary evidence did not confirm or refute the version presented by the defense.

According to the indictment, in 2009, Shenar bought 100 percent stakes in three real estate rental and management companies. He renamed the companies with solar power plant projects in Českolipsk to eEnergy Ralsko, eEnergy Hodonín and eEnergy Ralsko – Kuřivody. At the end of the same year, he sold them to ČEZ for 515 million crowns, which paid them in several installments over the next two years. But Shenar did not pay income tax, and according to the indictment, he caused damage of 76 million crowns.

The businessman defended himself by saying that he bought the companies mentioned in the indictment back in 2007. He did it on purpose precisely so that he did not have to pay taxes when selling them. Until the end of 2007, a more lenient law was in force, which allowed shares to be exempted from taxes if at least six months had passed between their acquisition and sale. From the beginning of the following year, the rules became stricter, and shares can only be sold after five years without paying taxes.

Shenar already said at the beginning of the first round of the main trial that he would never risk prison because of 76 million crowns. He pointed out that he has been doing business in the Czech Republic for more than 20 years and has never had problems with paying taxes. According to him, it would also be unthinkable to cheat on taxes when doing business with the semi-state company ČEZ.

For a long time, the police were also looking into the circumstances under which Amun.Re sold the giant solar parks near Ralsko and Mimon to ČEZ. The energy company paid five billion crowns for them, which, according to critics, was a billion more than the normal purchase price.