The former director of the tax office covered up leaks and took “gifts”, received a suspended sentence

The former head of one of the Brno branches of the tax office, Miroslav Kuba, has among his longtime acquaintances Zdeňko Mrňa, who has been convicted for tax evasion for a long time. Paradoxically, for exactly what Kuba’s office was supposed to control.

However, mutual friendship and advice resulted in the fact that anti-corruption police detectives came for Kuba and others already in 2013 and accused him of accepting bribes.

The case has dragged on ever since, and on Wednesday the Regional Court in Brno decided for the third time on Kuba’s guilt. He imposed a three-year conditional sentence, a fine of 700,000 crowns and also a ten-year ban on working in the state administration as an official. “We came to the same conclusion and we also stated that the previous sentence corresponds to all the circumstances,” said judge Jaroslava Bartošová, to whom the case returned to the table for the second time. The decision was last overturned by the Court of Appeal last December.

How did the criminal activity take place? According to the indictment, five people, including Mrni, falsified trades in cow hides and were able to claim excessive tax deductions. Mrň’s acquaintance, tax official Kuba, was supposed to help them with this, because it was clear to them that the financial control would focus on them because of the considerable VAT returns. And that really happened in 2012.

Gifts for 623 thousand, damage 37.9 million

When this happened, Kuba was not lazy and questioned his subordinates in detail about the progress of the inspection, as the judge described. “At the time when the employees of the tax office were carrying out the inspection, the defendant Miroslav Kuba met with Zdenek Mrňa and informed him about the progress of the inspection and how to proceed so that the tax deductions would not be called into question,” explained the judge.

Then, Mrňa and one other associate provided “counter-services” to Kub, either on their own initiative or at his request. According to the court, these were not just ordinary bribes in the form of envelopes with banknotes.

“They consisted, for example, in the acquisition of furniture, an acacia chair, an acacia table, a work or conference table, as well as its import and installation, delivery of windows, doors, laying of the floor, free of charge or at a significantly reduced price,” listed Bartošová. In total, according to her, the services were worth 623,000 crowns.

Cuba apologized for the meeting on Wednesday. However, he denied his guilt last time and claimed that the money and various services he received from Mrňa or his companies were repayments of an earlier loan he had given to Mrňa and his wife. Regarding the inspection, he claimed that it was only friendly advice and that he had no personal influence on it.

However, this contradicts the court’s ruling that Cuba challenged the tax assessment procedure. “The tax audit was concluded in 2015 with a report on the basis of which a tax of 37.9 million was assessed,” the judge noted, which amount should have escaped the state. After all, the review didn’t end until two years after Cuba lost “oversight” when he was arrested with the others.

There will probably be another appeal

However, the eleven-year-long case does not have to end with another non-judgmental verdict, as can be seen from the twice-overturned judgment and return for a new hearing from the High Court in Olomouc. The case will probably end there again. “I have to consult with the client, but we will most likely file an appeal again,” Kuba’s defense attorney Kárim Titz said after the verdict was announced.

Kubo, who was accused of accepting a bribe and abuse of authority of an official, faced at least a five-year prison sentence according to the criminal code. However, the judge from Brno tried to reduce the rate below the lower limit also because the case has dragged on for a long time and the former official was never prosecuted.

In addition, the High Court in Olomouc has already pointed out in the past that the length was affected by fundamental errors in the preliminary proceedings. State representative Jana Vítková did not want to comment on Wednesday’s re-decision and also kept a deadline for a possible appeal.

The police uncovered the case in 2013, but only after four years was an indictment filed and only in 2021 did the court deliver the first verdict. At that time, five men outside of Cuba received sentences for tax evasion, and those who have not been sentenced are now serving time in prison, including Mrni.