Milan Lučanský (source: SME)
Former Police Corps president Milan Lučanský was detained on the morning of December 3. Lučanský was charged the day before, but as he was in Croatia he could not be detained.
Other top-ranked police officials have been detained by the police in Operation Judáš (Judas).
Lučanský was travelling from Croatia to participate in an interrogation as he agreed upon with the investigator. He was detained after he arrived to the police station on December 3 at 6:00, the Denník N daily reported.
Police declined to give further details. His predecessor, Tibor Gašpar, has been in custody since early November, when he was detained as part of the Purgatory operation.Police declined to give further details. His predecessor, Tibor Gašpar, has been in custody since early November, when he was detained as part of the Purgatory operation.
More people have ended up in handcuffs on Wednesday morning.
The National Criminal Agency (NAKA) has detained six people including the former head of the Office of Special Police Activities of the Interior Ministry, Jozef Rehák, former vice president of the Financial Administration Daniel Čech, deputy director of the SIS intelligence service Boris Beňo and former head of the counterintelligence at SIS, Peter Gašparovič. The TV JOJ and Denník N were the first to break the news.
Blackmail and organised crime
Police Corps spokesperson Michal Slivka confirmed eight people have been charged with corruption-related crimes. One person faces charges of threatening confidential matters and blackmail, and one stands accused of organised crime.
"The charged person previously, and some still do, held high posts in the Police Corps, the SIS, and the Criminal Office of the Financial Administration," Slivka said as quoted by the Sme daily.
TV JOJ reported that the police raided the house of Rehák in the western-Slovak town of Šaľa. Rehák was in charge of police interceptions that reportedly used to leak to Norbert Bödör, currently in custody on corruption charges, and the Smer party.
More high-profile arrests
The arrests are yet another addition to the string of charges pressed against people who have held high law enforcement and judicial posts under the governments of the Smer party.
Former general prosecutor Dobroslav Trnka is facing charges linked to his contacts with mobster Marian Kočner. Former head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Dušan Kováčik is in custody, as is former Police Corps president Tibor Gašpar. They face suspicions of having ties to what investigators believe to have been an organised criminal group led by Nitra-based oligarch Norbert Bödör, also in custody.
Former Justice Ministry state secretary and judge Monika Jankovská has been in custody on charges related to corruption at Bratislava courts. She has recently started collaborating with the police.
The police are also acting in other cases. On Tuesday, December 1, NAKA detained also the partner of the Penta financial group Jaroslav Haščák, reportedly in connection with the Gorilla case.
Disclaimer: The Penta financial group has a minority share in Petit Press, the publisher of the Sme daily and the co-owner of The Slovak Spectator.
