Lured billions for a luxurious life. The court began to deal with the huge frauds surrounding the young entrepreneur

Prosecutor Boris Havel accuses Ortinski, Petr Šorf and Martin Hromad of defrauding almost 3,800 people and more than one hundred and fifty legal entities between 2016 and 2020 through a pyramid scheme.

According to the file, the defendants promised up to thirty percent appreciation of investments on world stock exchanges in Europe, the USA and Asia. Instead, they bought houses, luxury cars, jewelry, gold, silver, platinum, paintings and watches with the invested money. According to the indictment, Ortinský earned more than a quarter of a billion crowns, while his co-defendants earned tens of millions. Ortinský’s mother, Jitka Ortinská, a policewoman from Central Bohemia, who, according to the file, bought, among other things, a Mercedes-Benz GLC 250 with the lured money, is also indicted.

Among the injured are well-known sports personalities, for example, former professional soccer player Erich Brabec or former ice hockey goalkeeper Dušan Salfický.

They promised huge profits, lured 2.4 billion

Crime stories

The indictment has 384 pages, prosecutor Havel read it even in the shortened version for over an hour. In one case, an unnamed company sent over 35 million to the account of JO Investment, and in another, a man sent almost 28 million, while he received back only eight million from the investment company.

Pyramid system

According to the public prosecutor, the defendants only randomly and sporadically sent back part of the invested money, and only to some clients. To recruit clients, as is usual in similar closed systems, the defendants used so-called tipsters, who were also some clients of JO Investment, who were remunerated for this.

“I do not agree with the indictment, I did not commit any fraud,” Ortinský said to journalists during the break.

Before the court, Ortinský, like his mother, refused to testify. In his brief statement on the case, he only stated that he became interested in investments and trading even as a minor. “I started researching how to do it, I went through various trainings,” he described.

“A spectrum of friends and colleagues, such as (co-defendants) Mr. Hromada and Mr. Šorfa, began to turn to me, who wanted me to evaluate their money,” continued Ortinský, adding that over time they decided to spread it among more of their acquaintances and founded JO Investment .

At the same time, Ortinský pointed out that this is a completely legal model and that they never promised their clients that it was absolutely risk-free. According to him, the success rate of investments was 70 percent. For the time being, Ortinský refused to answer any questions.

Šorfa also denied guilt. “I feel innocent, I have never knowingly misled anyone,” he declared. In his testimony, Šorfa stated that 90 percent of his workload was administration. He also emphasized that “every crown was properly taxed.”

On Tuesday, she should present her brief statement on the indictment of Ortinská, and Hromada should testify.

He proposes an eight-year prison sentence, a fine of 25 million crowns and a ban on activities for ten years. Šorfa and Hromada were sentenced to six years in prison, a fine of ten million euros and also a ten-year ban on activities. For Ortinski’s mother, accused of legalizing the proceeds of crime, Havel proposes a three-year probation and a fine of two million.

The chairman of the court panel, Lukáš Svrček, has planned the main trial for more than thirty days of proceedings, so far the latest deadline is this November.