The mayor of Prague 1 is facing prosecution. Under the price he sold an apartment, she got a billionaire wife
Former mayor of Prague 1 Oldřich Lomecký (formerly TOP 09) is facing accusations that he has deprived his city district of more than three million crowns. This follows from the findings of Aktuálně.cz. Criminalists have accused him of two crimes. According to the police, he sold the apartment, although its transfer was approved by the council for a significantly higher amount. The apartment eventually ended up at the company of the billionaire’s wife Pavel Tykač. The ex-mayor denies guilt.
“I can confirm that criminal proceedings have been initiated in this case for criminal offenses of abuse of official authority and breach of duty in the administration of foreign property,” confirmed Jan Lelek, head of the District Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prague 1, whose people oversee the investigation of the case. Lomecký lodged a complaint against the accusation. “It has not been decided yet,” Lelek said.
Lomecký’s criminal story began in October 2012, when the Prague 1 City Council approved the sale of several flats. Lomecký was then in the middle of his first term as mayor. Representatives of the local government agreed on a sale price of CZK 18,949 million for an apartment in Opletalov 15. They thus confirmed the result of the tender, in which the daughter Ivana Tykač Olga Grillová offered the above.
In April of the following year, however, Lomecký, as mayor, decided otherwise. He signed a contract for the transfer of the apartment with Karolína Čelikovská, who finished in fifth place in the tender. She came in with an offer less than half the winning amount. Prague 1 collected 7.1 million crowns from it.
He did so arbitrarily consciousness without council
“He did this arbitrarily, although he must have known from his position as mayor that he had a legal obligation to submit the above contract to the city council for approval, but he nevertheless decided to conclude the contract without the council’s knowledge and consent. entrusted to the city district, “stands in the accusation that Aktuálně.cz obtained.
The police accused Lomecký of abusing the authority of an official and a breach of duty in the administration of other people’s property. If the case goes to court, the former mayor faces up to 10 years in prison if he is found guilty. Lomecký took over the resolution to start the prosecution in December last year.
The forensic scientists calculated the damage on the basis of an expert opinion, which, however, he had evaluated. The expertise was developed by Equity Solutions Appraisals. Its conclusion differs from the price approved by the council, the value of the apartment according to experts was 10,362 million crowns. From the point of view of the police, Lomecký thus prepared its city district by 3,352 million.
It is fabricated, says Lomecký
Even before Lomecký’s intervention, Ivana Tykač’s daughter gave up the apartment. When the office called on her to sign the contract, she did not respond. The other three bidders in the meantime competed for other flats from the Prague 1 fund, so they lost the right to the one in Opletalov. This resulted from the regulation of the tender. Next on the list was the aforementioned Karolína Čelikovská. The police believe that Lomecký was not allowed to enter into negotiations with her without the knowledge of the deputies.
“It cannot therefore be concluded that the winning bidder will automatically reject the purchase of the housing unit at the winning price, (…) and other satisfaction of the other three bidders in the order of the fifth bidder’s approved sale (…) at the offered price. to the value of the offered housing unit, but especially to the price, for which the sale (…) was approved by a resolution of the council, “the police write.
Dozens of deputies are prosecuting the police because of the flats
The current Lomecký case is based on an investigation in which the police accused more than thirty politicians of Prague 1, including Oldřich Lomecký and Deputy Mayor Daniel Hodek (ČSSD). They drew attention to this criminal Message list. Last January, the prosecutor canceled the prosecution, and in September, the police blamed the policy again. In this case, there are several tenders for the sale of dozens of apartments.
Because the story of the apartment in Opletalova 15 was Lomecký’s specific intervention, the criminal investigators separated him from the case for independent criminal proceedings. Last December, police concluded that it was up to the former mayor to prosecute this case as well.
Because it took place outside the normal procedure, the apartment did not receive a proper award before the sale of Čelikovská. According to the police, Lomecký was obliged to find out whether the amount of 7.1 million was appropriate. He did not do it. “He did not protect the property of the city district, although as mayor of the city district he had the duty to exercise conscientiously, in the interest of the city district and to obey the laws,” the criminologists stated in the resolution.
The former mayor managed Prague 1 for eight years (2010-2018), and denies responsibility in this case. He doesn’t even want to comment on her details. “It is a matter constructed by the police department. It is in the hands of my lawyers who filed a complaint against it. We will wait for the opinion of the public prosecutor or the court. Until then, I will not comment on it until then,” Lomecký told Aktuálně.cz.
Ivana Tykač’s company saved eight million
Although Ivana Tykač’s daughter would refuse, she nevertheless headed for the family. In the end, the company Ivana Tykač Property & Invest Praha paid more than eight million less for it compared to the price originally approved by the council. As follows from several contracts available to Aktuálně.cz, the company paid 10.28 million crowns for it.
Čelikovská had to be a little over a month. She signed a contract to buy it on April 3, 2013, to sell it to lawyer Adam Zlámal on May 16. The lawyer bought it for 9.7 million crowns, Čelikovská earned 2.6 million for the transaction. Lawyer Zlámal also got rid of the apartment with a profit. The contract with Property & Invest Prague from December 20, 2013 to 10.28 million crowns brought him 580 thousand crowns.
The transaction is thus framed by the income for the temporary owner of the apartment and a noticeable investigation for the Tykač family. The daily Aktuálně.cz wanted to know from a lawyer with what motive he bought an apartment from Čelikovsky and whether the company already planned to sell it to Ivana Tykač. “It is a living case, I will not give any information about it until the police resolve this matter,” the lawyer told Aktuálně.cz.
Ivana Tykač is the owner of the company that owns the incriminated apartment in Opletalov 15. | Photo: Profimedia.cz
The Čelikov police said that the apartment was disposed of due to the life situation. Other actors in the transaction no longer shared a word with criminologists. Ivana Tykač’s daughter Olga Grillová, lawyer Zlámal and executive of Property & Invest Prague Božena Nováková refused to resign. Zdeňka Tomíčková, with whom Lomecký discussed the sale of the apartment, did not even testify at the then relevant department.
I make sense that the apartment ended with Ivana Tykač. The purchase fits into its business activities, in the center of Prague it is one of the most prominent entrepreneurs providing short-term rentals. It focuses primarily on tourism. It owns about 250 accommodation capacities with a thousand beds. It also expanded its scope from Prague 1 to Žižkov, Vinohrady and Smíchov.
“We plan to build entire tenement houses. We are currently building three residential projects in Prague 2 and Prague 3. These are reconstructions of existing houses,” Tykač said. diary E15 to her business in November 2018. Her daughter Olga Grillová moves in the same environment. He runs accommodation services with his own company Empirent, for which he manages her house in Jindřišská Street for this purpose.
It’s a satisfaction, says the man who pointed out the sale
In September 2018, the current representative of Prague 1 and the chairman of the control committee, David Bodeček (Pirates), drew attention to the circumstances of the sale of the apartment. At that time, he appeared at the plenum of the council as an ordinary citizen, he was not yet a representative. However, he was already in second place in the pirate candidates for the autumn municipal elections.
“Although I honor the presumption of innocence, but the fact that a criminal prosecution has taken place is, in my opinion, a reason for me to feel satisfied for what I pointed out in my interpellation at a council meeting in September 2018. Even on a human level, I am not pleased with Mr. Lomecký, I am glad that the truth has proved, “the representative Bodeček told Aktuálně.cz.
As a citizen, he came into conflict with the City Hall of Prague 1 as early as 2016. At that time, he expressed interest in buying an apartment in Karlova Street, and submitted the highest bid in the tender. He then sold his existing apartment to have money to buy a new one. However, after the intervention of the mayor of Lomecký, the council canceled the competition, which included a number of others in addition to “Bodeck’s” apartment.
Opposition representative and chairman of the control committee in Prague 1 David Bodeček. | Photo: Archive of David Bodeček
Bodeček therefore decided to check the housing policy of Prague 1. He passed the previous four tenders for the sale of dozens of apartments. He checked the resolution of the council, demanded a contract. He found out that several flats were sold for half the price he offered for ten in Karlova Street. He also discovered that in Opletalov5 he did not end up with Grill for 18.9 million, but a lower price for Olga with someone else.
When he repeatedly pointed out these irregularities, the mayor of Lomecký and then Chairman of TOP 09 Jiří Pospíšil he was accused of political struggle. Behind his motivation, he refused disappointment at the unsuccessful attempt to obtain an apartment and his other low motives. “Before the election, I was so determined, it certainly affected the voters as well. So now I am glad that it was confirmed to me and that it was not a political skirmish on my part,” Bodeček said.
The current leadership of Prague 1, the coalition consists of ODS, TOP 09, KDU-ČSL, ANO and the group We, What We Live Here (STAN, KDU-ČSL, Citizens’ Initiative), is informed about the Lomecký prosecution. The town hall has not yet joined the criminal proceedings as a victim. “Legal proceedings that require the approval of the property of the council or council may be carried out by the mayor only after their prior approval,” Petr Bidlo from the press department on the current practice of the town hall told Aktuálně.cz.