Four Czech state prosecutors may be fired or face other penalties if a disciplinary court finds they purposely delayed investigating an energy firm being probed by the Swiss in a huge money laundering case, the justice minister said Thursday.
Jiri Pospisil said the four, including former Prague high prosecutor Vlastimil Rampula, were told of the Swiss findings in the case in 2010 but failed to meet their request for legal assistance.
Due to the prosecutors’ alleged inactivity, the Czech Republic failed to join the criminal proceedings in Switzerland, complicating Prague’s chance to claim losses of some 3.5 billion koruna ($173 million). Czech authorities are now looking for ways to get the money back.
Rampula and Prague deputy high prosecutor Libor Grygarek, another of the accused, denied any wrongdoing Thursday. Rampula declined to comment further, saying he is waiting to receive details of the complaint, which Pospisil said will likely be delivered next week.
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