Prague – The Prague High Court of Appeal today extended the previously imposed seven-year sentence to former Central Bohemian Governor David Rath. He found him guilty in the so-called second branch of his corruption case. The former politician will have to return to prison for at least a few months. Rath accepted bribes and manipulated tenders in the Central Bohemian Region.
When asked by ČTK, Rath stated that he took the court’s judgment as it is. He didn’t want to comment on him anymore. “I will not give a statement, everything has already been said and I take the verdict as it is,” the former politician wrote to ČTK.
According to the verdict, Rath must also pay 13 million crowns. The Board of Appeal, headed by President Alexander Karolyi, reduced the fine imposed on him by the court of first instance in January 2020. “We have taken into account the assets of the defendants,” the judge said. However, the court left Rath with a ban on activities, which the regional court extended by one year.
The court did not uphold the public prosecutor’s appeal, which requested an extension of Rath’s sentence by two and a half years. According to Károlyi, the court took into account the length of the proceedings, as well as changes in the Criminal Code concerning the limit of damage, when deciding on aggravating and mitigating circumstances.
As in the first part of the case, the central trio of the cases under discussion today is the former governor Rath, the former director of the Kladno hospital Kateřina Kottová and her husband Petr Kott. According to the invalid verdict, at the turn of 2011 and 2012, they agreed on bribes for manipulating tenders in the Central Bohemian Region for hundreds of millions of crowns. The Kott family also extended their sentences to eight years in prison, they have to pay 15 million crowns each. Kott’s lawyer told reporters that clients did not agree with the verdict and would consider filing an appeal.
Rath’s lawyer Adam Černý said after the verdict was announced that he considered the imposed punishment to be very severe, according to him Rath has no way to pay. “I think we will consider filing an appeal upon receipt of the written copy,” the lawyer said.
Six more people faced the indictment, including former Metrostav CEO Pavel Pilát. The Court of Appeal found them all guilty, reducing some of the fines or injunctions imposed on some. The court sent Lucia Novanská and Pavel Dresden to prison, and the court sentenced the remaining defendants to conditions.
The Senate also found Metrostav and its subsidiary Metrostav Infrastructure guilty, and imposed a three-year ban on participating in public procurement tenders. He also punished other accused companies for corruption.
According to today’s ruling, Metrostav committed bribery and manipulation of public contracts. His criminal activity concerned the reconstruction of the pavilion in the Cologne hospital and the reconstruction of part of the Kladno hospital. The company must also pay a fine of ten million crowns.
According to the chairman of the Board of Appeal, Alexander Károlyi, the length of the ban corresponds to the seriousness of the company’s criminal conduct. According to him, the court also considered increasing the fine, but in the end came to the conclusion that it would keep the first-instance decision.
“If we did not prohibit Metrostav Infrastructure from participating in public contracts, Metrostav could participate in them, for example, as a subcontractor,” the judge explained the decision to punish the subsidiary.
“What is won and what is under construction, we can finish and we can start building,” Kostiha told reporters after the verdict.
Rath was already serving a seven-year final sentence imposed on him for influencing tenders for the reconstruction of Buštěhrad Castle in the Kladno region. A former politician was released on parole in January this year. The Kotts are also free.
| David Rath | eight years | fine of 13 million crowns | ban on activity for eight years |
| Kateřina Kottová | eight years | fine of 15 million crowns | ban on activity for eight years |
| Petr Kott | eight years | fine of 15 million crowns | ban on activity for eight years |
| Lucia Novanská | six years | fine of 400,000 crowns | ban on activity for six years |
| Pavel Pilát | suspended sentence | fine of 2.5 million crowns | ban on activity for four years |
| Jiří Anděl | conditional tres | fine 250,000 crowns | – |
| Pavel Drážďanský | six years | fine 750,000 crowns | ban on activity for four years |
| Martin Houdek | suspended sentence | fine 750,000 crowns | ban on activity for three years |
| Martin Jireš | suspended sentence | fine of 1.5 million crowns | ban on activity for three years |
| Metrostav | ban on participation in public contracts for three years | fine of ten million crowns | publication of the judgment |
| Metrostav Infrastructure | ban on participation in public contracts for three years | – | – |
| Hospimed | ban on participation in public procurement for two years | fine of two million crowns | publication of the judgment |
| Jipe | ban on participation in public contracts for three years | fine of 2.5 million crowns | publication of the judgment |
| Aveza | excluded for a separate hearing | – | – |
| Constructive Branko | forfeiture of property | – | – |
| Tenton | excluded for a separate hearing | – | – |
| Puro Klima | ban on participation in public procurement for two years | fine of two million crowns | publication of the judgment |
| ML Compet | Revocation of a person ‘s rights | – |
administration court Central Bohemian Corruption David Rath
Tags: court extended Raths sentence Metrostav banned participating public procurement
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