Detectives from the National Central Office against Organized Crime charged thirteen people after Monday’s raid on transport contracts.
“The National Central Office against Organized Crime of the Criminal Police and Investigation Service has initiated criminal prosecution of a total of thirteen persons in connection with the suspicion of illegally influencing public contracts in the field of transport constructions in the territory of the Olomouc region,” said Olomouc chief prosecutor Radim Dragoun.
According to him, they are accused of several crimes: accepting a bribe, bribery, abuse of authority of an official, fraud and for negotiating an advantage in the awarding of a public contract.
“Most of the accused are accused of committing these crimes for the benefit of an organized criminal group, as well as the crime of participating in an organized criminal group,” added Dragoun.
During Monday, the investigators confirmed that they are intervening in this connection in several places, especially in the Olomouc region. They also searched the office of Deputy Governor Michal Zácha (ODS), who was detained in this connection. But according to his defense lawyer Filip Seifert, he has already been released.
“I can state that the client provided the police with all the requested cooperation and handed over all the required materials, gave a statement on the date requested by the police and is not detained,” Seifert told Nauzal.
In addition to the regional office, there were policemen at the Přerov town hall or at the Olomouc branch of the Directorate of Roads and Highways (ŘSD).
“The Police of the Czech Republic approached the Olomouc administration of the ŘSD with specific requirements regarding public contracts. In full cooperation, we provided the requested documents. No employee of the ŘSD was detained in this connection,” said Radek Mátl, director general of the ŘSD, for Nauzal.
At the same time, the management of the Olomouc region also filed a criminal complaint on suspicion of distribution of transport contracts. Police officers from the National Headquarters against Organized Crime were contacted shortly after Nauzal described details from the diary of the then head of the ANO deputies, Jaroslav Faltýnek. He also wrote in it how to control the distribution of transport orders in this region.
“Yes, I confirm, we filed (a criminal complaint) in April 2021,” Olomouc Governor Josef Suchánek (Mayors) told Nauzal.
A few months ago, detectives from the National Central Office against Organized Crime also requested an audit from the regional office, which the Olomouc Region had prepared. This document drew attention to specific errors in the distribution of transport orders.
“The police actually requested an audit from the regional office last year,” regional representative Zdeňka Dvořáková Kocourková (Piráti), who at the time was a vacant councilor for investments and transparency, confirmed to Seznam Zprávám. It is not yet clear whether this document helped the police to charge.
However, in the audit available to the editors, it is written, for example, that the contracts of the Olomouc Region Road Administration were often won by companies belonging to Juraj Fellinger.
“At the same time, over the past five years, two trading companies exclusively owned by Juraj Fellinger have received public contracts from the Road Administration of the Olomouc Region for a total of over fifty million crowns,” the mentioned audit states.
Fellinger has a permanent residence about a hundred meters from the house belonging to the wife of the former head of the Road Administration of the Olomouc Region, Petr Foltýnek, who left his position a year ago. In addition, its authors stated in the audit that Foltýnek and Fellinger most likely know each other, as they are also friends on the social network Facebook.
The company Viaservis, in which Fellinger is a managing director and partner, then, according to the contract register, received orders for more than 28.5 million crowns from the road administration, which Foltýnek previously led. Another of his companies, Viatop Morava, then received orders for 24.9 million.
Fellinger did not comment on the audit’s earlier findings Monday. “I’m on holiday in Spain. Don’t disturb me, goodbye,” he said before ending the conversation.
However, the audit also drew attention to the fact that at least four companies, in which employees of the Road Administration of the Olomouc Region worked, received public contracts from this regional company.
As an example, the audit cited the company Makoši. It was managed by Viktor Mazouch until December 2015. And since September 2013, he also worked in the Road Administration of the Olomouc Region.
At the same time, the Makoši company received several orders. The audit mentions a small-scale competition to remodel the kitchen for around 100,000 crowns. “In our opinion, the direct award of the contract to the company demonstrates the existence of a conflict of interest,” the audit concludes.
According to this document, other companies that similarly collected orders from the road administration and in which employees of this regional company worked were, for example, KKstav concrete or Services of the City of Zlaty Hory.
