Special Prosecutor Dušan Kováčik (source: SME)
Bašternák, suspected of VAT fraud, is suspected of having corrupted Kaliňák through his former company B.A. Haus, the Sme daily wrote on March 13.
There was already an exchange of prosecutors in the case, as Special Prosecutor Dušan Kováčik took it from Vasil Špirko and gave it to Blanka Godžová who subsequently stopped it, the Denník N daily reported earlier. The pretence was that Špirko was charged for disciplinary reasons and the Special Prosecutor’s Office wanted to ensure a smooth procedure. Kováčik, however, is a topic of discussion as the opposition finds the number of cases he has dismissed abnormally high.
The Prosecutor’s Office has refused to investigate into the criminal complaint submitted by several opposition MPs, who claimed that Kaliňák bought the shares in B.A. Haus from Bašternák for lower than market price five years ago. The documents suggests as reported by Denník N, that the police and the prosecutor’s office did not try to find out the source of €850,000 which Bašternák poured into the company, whose stock he later sold to Kaliňák.
The halt of the case was decided by a police investigator on December 21, 2016, Special Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Jana Tökölyová informed the TASR newswire more recently, adding that neither police nor prosecutor found enough substance to continue the case. The due ruling refusing prosecution cannot be appealed, protesters can only turn to the General Prosecutor’s Office, the spokesperson added, according to the Sme daily.
However, the District Prosecutor’s Office is still scrutinising the origin of Bašternák’s assets.
