An extortion case involving influential business tycoon Ladislav R. and prominent lawyer Ernest V. has come to an end.
A spokesman for Bratislava Regional Prosecutor's office said that the office is continuing to seek charges against Martin R. and Robert G. for extortion and physical violence against an accountant in one of Ladislav R.'s firms, but has halted its investigation against the other persons. It has also dropped charges against Ladislav R. for allegedly extorting the V. brothers, allegations with which Ladislav R., Martin R. and Ernest V. were also charged.
Vanek said that the investigator had failed to prove their involvement.
Ladislav R., his sons Martin and Juraj, and Robert G. had been accused of forcing a former bookkeeper, under the threat of physical and psychological violence, to sign a notarized statement confessing to the embezzlement of Sk5 million from their company. At the end of 2006, an investigator brought charges against them, but courts turned down requests to jail them.
Business tycoon Ladislav R. and prominent Bratislava lawyer Ernest V. were also charged with extorting a business partner connected with purchase of land in Záhorie, to the west of Bratislava. The prosecutor agreed with the investigator's proposal to take them into pretrial custody, but the Bratislava I District Court released both of them on November 20, 2006. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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