First the help of lawyers and craftsmen, then the offer of money appreciation. According to the police, the sophisticated system of the tangle of 18 companies around Ramfin holding extorted 340 million crowns from people over 50 years of age.
Over 1,200 people reported to the police, and they have been waiting for justice in vain for over two years. People in the field also confirm that the case is notoriously out of line with its scope and targeting of vulnerable people. “It’s not about the fact that the senior bought pots for 20,000, but that they took away his life savings,” says lawyer Filip Petráš in an interview for Seznam Zprávy.
Some will no longer see justice
He and his colleagues represent 380 clients from the case. Among other things, in the behind-the-scenes legal wrangling, they helped arrange for some of the victims to be seen as “particularly vulnerable victims”, which gives them special rights.
Thirteen of those prosecuted are facing up to 13 years in prison for serious fraud and participation in an organized criminal group, four of them are being prosecuted as early as 2022. Among them is the former football player of Zbrojovka Brno or Drnovic Miloslav Kufa, whose surname has been changed to Honek. They have not communicated with the Seznam Zpráv editors since the beginning.
In the case, the police seized property and money in the order of tens of millions of crowns. The commissioner believes that the victims will receive some compensation. “Hopefully we could get to that stage sometime next year,” says a lawyer from the office of Petráš Rezek in an interview for Seznam Zprávy.
Two years after the large-scale police raid, the indictment is not ready. What feedback do you get from your clients?
I’ll be completely honest. They complain about the bad financial situation caused by this case. Many of them are worried that they will not live to see the end of the process. In several cases, this has actually happened.
Drawing up an indictment usually takes six to 12 months, the period can be legally extended. Here the actors are working with a giant file, but is it standard that after two years it’s still not done?
Given the number of victims, this could theoretically be the case. However, I believe that the law enforcement authorities should take into account, let’s say, the high age of the victims, and they should proceed as actively and quickly as possible. It’s going to sound ugly, but it’s important that those people see justice.
What could speed up the resolution of similar cases for you?
More efficient work. But I don’t want to vilify the police here. There is often a staff shortage. Dozens of people, not units, should do such a big cause, even with regard to particularly vulnerable people. That’s easy to say, hard to do.
They took away their life savings
Pre-trial proceedings have clearly defined rules. The public prosecutor cannot anticipate any indictment and deadlines. However, do you have any signals when the preliminary proceedings will end and there will be a shift?
Recently, the number of accused was expanded to 13 and the classification of the crime changed to an organized criminal group. We have information that funds originating from criminal activity could be distributed already during court proceedings. I believe we could get to that stage sometime next year.
Do you have any idea how much the clients could get?
Don’t get mad, I’m going to defend a specific number here. The number of accused is expanding, additional assets may be blocked. Let’s be careful about this.
The main actors of the Ramfin case
- Miloslav Honek (formerly Kufa) – from April 2019 at the latest the managing person of the entire Ramfin group, in addition to other functions, from December 2018 the chairman of the Merhautova Investment Cooperative.
- Miloslav Kufa the younger – line manager of the Ramfin group. Among other things, a partner in Celostátní česká služba, formerly Senior Safe, s.r.o
- Michael Pokiser – business director for the Ramfin group, among other things, from 2015 to 2018, the 100% owner of High Corporation, s.r.o.
- Tomáš Kunc – operations director for the Ramfin group, former partner with a 100% stake in Infinity Service, s.r.o
From the very beginning, you advocated for the status of particularly vulnerable victims to be granted to defrauded seniors. Can you describe how that developed?
The police rejected it at first, we filed a complaint against the procedure. Then another law firm joined us. After that, it took a long time to discuss with the police how to do it. Fortunately, in cooperation with the public prosecutor’s office, we put together an affidavit, that is, that the victims were over 60 years old, that their financial situation worsened because of the case. It logically got worse for everyone who put money into it. Even if two crowns disappeared from the companies. Now finally, after a long time, the first 50 of our clients, alphabetically by last name, have been granted the status of particularly vulnerable victims.
The law provides them with certain rights, among other things, the state bears the costs of legal services.
At the beginning, we collected some advance from the clients, with the recognition of the status of a vulnerable victim, we will return this money to the clients. We’re trying to help those people because it’s one of the biggest cases of hyenism on the part of the accused that I’ve seen in my practice, and I’ve seen a lot. Those practices were clearly targeted. It’s not that the senior bought pots for 20,000, but that they took away his life savings.
You described that it was very difficult to get status for victims. Was it precisely because of the costs that will be borne by the state?
I don’t want to speculate here. It can be a big administrative burden. It also meant hundreds of hours of work for us to communicate everything with clients, put together sworn statements and the like. Yes, it can also be a financial burden for the state. There are really a lot of victims. But here I say openly: If the legislator sets the legislative barriers so badly that it is possible to commit such an activity, let him bear the costs. It is not for nothing that the status of a particularly vulnerable victim is included in the Criminal Code and the Criminal Code. And in such a case, the state should take responsibility for the situation.
You said some clients didn’t live to see the trial. How many are there?
So far it’s units of people, but we’re running into another thing. We try to raise awareness among clients, but they often don’t even confide in their loved ones about the problem. They are ashamed that they flew in. But that’s a normal human trait. However, if the relatives do not know and God forbid a death occurs, then not even a notary has to find out, the claim is not included in the inheritance and it is then not possible to discuss it. The money goes down the drain, which is a shame. Of course, there is also the risk that some people did not contact the police at all.
