The indictment for the sale of flats in Prague 1 went to court
Judge Pavla Hájková will be in charge of the case.
“I have just brought the file, but the lawsuit has not yet been delivered, so I cannot comment on the case. I will now have three weeks to study the file and take some action to resolve the matter. The main trial is usually ordered, unless there is a reason for a preliminary indictment or some other procedure, “Hájková said in recent days and did not rule out any of the above options.
According to lawyer Dagmar Raupachová, the case from Prague 1 is not unique to Czech conditions.
“There are many such cases and they are similar to each other. Brno and Ostrava are no exception. This is usually an offense of breach of duty in the administration of third-party property. He faces up to five years in prison. Often these cases do not even go to court, and if they do, there is often no conviction due to the evidentiary situation. The submitted expert opinions are usually questioned, “describes Raupachová.
According to her, the state must in some cases pay damages to the defendants.
“I even feel that people are already expecting a similar scenario. But it’s not right, “adds the lawyer. According to her, there are expert opinions for all similar cases, which can prove the damage caused.
Everyone knows nothing happened, says the defendants
“The prosecutor has once returned the case and is now back. Everyone has already received an offer of a vineyard agreement and punishment. Four people who no longer wanted to go to court accepted her. Everyone knows nothing happened. Many years after the sale, a forensic expert retroactively determines how the apartments should have value. But such a value at that time was the apartments, where it was enough to take the keys and it was possible to live. The apartments involved in the case needed new floors, electricity, water and complete renovations. We know what condition they were in, “argues the councilor of Prague 1, Richard Bureš (ODS).
What interested the investigators
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Former Mayor Oldřich Lomecký also rejected the case in a statement for MF DNES.
“It simply came to our notice then. It was not a privatization, it was a public tender. This procedure was proposed by a law firm, “says Lomecký. According to him, the apartments were sold to the winners who submitted the highest bids.
According to the ex-mayor, the damage is quantified fictitiously several years after the flats were renovated by their acquirers. According to Lomecký, the notifier is a procurator from a real estate agency that itself wanted to acquire apartments.
However, the deputies excluded real estate agencies from the tender in advance because they did not want the sale to end with an exorbitant price.
“A higher price would subsequently lead to the apartments being offered as short-term accommodation via Airbnb,” says Lomecký.
The realtor reported the real estate business
David Bodeček (Pirates), a representative of Prague 1, filed a criminal complaint in the case of the sale of flats in June 2017. However, he denies the fact that he would do business in real estate, as Lomecký claims.
“I uncovered cases of dubious sale of city flats below the price, which took place under the former mayor of Prague 1, Oldřich Lomecký, in the value of several tens of millions of crowns. There were 37 criminal reports in this case. I consider the scandalous accusation that I am doing business in real estate as an attempt to delegitimize my activities, which resulted in the interest of the police in the former management of Prague 1. My alleged conflict of interest is that I am the owner of Gastone. However, neither I nor this company carry out business activities, the company has been in liquidation since the summer. I bought the company only for the purchase of one personal apartment, “says Bodeček.
He himself does not deny that he was interested in at least one of the offered apartments.
“In September 2016, I submitted an offer for an apartment in Karlova Street, for 89 thousand crowns per square meter. At that time, the mayor of Lomecký is currently calling for the selection procedure to be canceled. In addition, the expert report was not carried out until after the bids had been submitted. My offer of 89 thousand crowns per meter was not approved because it did not reach the usual prices in place and time. The usual price according to this report could be around 90 thousand per meter. At the same time, Prague 1 sold an apartment at a price of less than 40,000 crowns per meter sometime between 2013 and 2014, ”says Bodeček.