The Banská Bystrica District Court found Jaromír Ruda, the chairman of the Organising Committee for the 17th Winter Deaflympics, guilty of embezzlement on June 1 and sentenced him to 13 years in a medium-security jail as well as ordering confiscation of his property, the TASR newswire reported.
In addition, the court found Stanislav Furda, Ruda’s Košice-based public notary, guilty of embezzlement and sentenced him to 14 years in a medium-security jail, plus a 10-year ban on serving as a notary and confiscation of property.
The court found that Ruda and Furda together embezzled approximately €1.6 million – money allocated for the preparation of the 17th Winter Deaflympics in High Tatras which were cancelled as a result of the theft.
The accused continue to claim their innocence and plan to appeal the verdict, TASR wrote. Ruda has been in custody since his arrest earlier this year as he was apprehended trying to leave the country. He is considered a flight risk while Furda is not yet in custody. The verdict will become valid only after the appeals are decided.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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