People and companies associated with rally sport were said to be committing tax fraud

According to the participants themselves, rallying is a very expensive sport, and many actors try to get money illegally. One of them led through the negotiation of advertisements.

According to the spokesperson of the Regional State Attorney’s Office in Brno, Hynek Olma, the extensive tax criminal activity concerned the unauthorized reduction of tax obligations of various tax entities through purpose-built fictitious invoices issued for advertising services actually performed during rally races.

Antonín Tlusťák, the vice-champion of Europe in the rally from 2010, did everything for years to be able to continue racing.

Car racer Tlusťák received 5.5 years for tax fraud

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However, an expensive hobby turned into an unmanageable horse, which brought the racing driver active in domestic and international car competitions to the edge of the law.

Between 2014 and 2018, according to the court, he caused damage in excess of 45 million crowns to the state through tax evasion. He faced up to ten years in prison. Although he admitted his guilt at the end of the trial, he appealed against the sentence.

According to the court, Tlusťák, as an executive, board member and representative of various companies, cut taxes. According to state representative Pavlína Nesvadbová, he carried advertisements of other companies on his racing cars, for which he received financial compensation.

The evidentiary situation, built precisely on the police authority’s careful evaluation of all contexts, was so good that it led to the confession of almost all the accused

However, according to the plaintiff, he compensated for the associated tax liability of the companies for which he acted with fictitious inputs and fictitious costs. According to her, it was, for example, spare parts.

It is the same in the latest case, which is just approaching the trial. In recent days, the public prosecutor of the Zlín branch of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Brno filed an indictment at the Regional Court in Zlín for the unauthorized reduction of tax obligations of various tax entities through special-purpose invoices issued for advertising services actually performed at rally races. The resulting damage amounts to thirty million crowns.

Criminal investigators have been investigating the case since 2021, when they initiated criminal prosecution against 22 accused natural persons and sixteen accused legal persons. The evidence was incontrovertible.

“The evidentiary situation based precisely on the police authority’s careful evaluation of all the circumstances was so good that it led to the confession of almost all the accused, to the payment of tax obligations and to the majority ending the preliminary proceedings in a consensual manner,” explained Olma.

The current indictment thus concerns only a pair of individuals and two other legal entities. For the other accused who pleaded guilty, the public prosecutor’s office was satisfied with alternative sentences.

“In the case of seven accused, of which five are individuals and two are legal entities, a conditional suspension of prosecution was decided. However, they had to deposit 499,000 crowns into the account of the public prosecutor’s office for monetary assistance to victims of crime according to a special regulation,” Olma pointed out.

The State Prosecutor’s Office also concluded fifteen plea agreements with twelve accused legal entities and fifteen accused natural persons.

“In these agreements, we agreed, among other things, monetary penalties in the total amount of over nine million crowns. The money was paid voluntarily by the accused. And all this for the current compensation for the damage caused in the total amount of almost 15.5 million crowns,” explained Olma.

“Payment of the outstanding tax liability was established as a necessary condition both for negotiations on a possible conditional suspension of criminal prosecution and for the eventual conclusion of a plea agreement,” he added.

In one case, the accused was supposed to organize the issuing of fictitious invoices and subsequently manage bank transactions and the redistribution of money

Only two individuals and two legal entities have now been indicted in court. “In one case, we are talking about the accused who was supposed to organize the issuing of fictitious invoices and subsequently manage bank transactions and the redistribution of money,” said Olma.

“He is being prosecuted for the crime of reducing tax, fee and similar mandatory payments and the crime of legalizing proceeds from criminal activity,” added Olma.

He should have caused 29.5 million crowns in damage to the state. Another accused and his company were supposed to have caused damage to the state in the amount of fourteen million crowns by unauthorized input VAT deductions.

He is being prosecuted for the crime of evasion of tax, fee and similar mandatory payment. Individuals face up to ten years in prison, companies face fines.

The court reduced the conditional sentence of the track commissioner from Lopeník. He was not satisfied

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