Robert Kaliňák (source: Sme)
Former interior minister Robert Kaliňák and ex-transport minister Ján Počiatek, who are both members of the ruling Smer party, will not face any prosecution over bribery allegations.
“The criminal complaint filed by Vasiľ Špirko regarding the investigation over alleged corruption of former ministers in [Robert] Fico’s cabinet was rejected,” the Nadácia Zastavme Korupciu (The Stop Corruption Foundation) wrote on its blog.
Vasiľ Špirko, a prosecutor of the Special Prosecutor’s Office who brought the suspicion to spotlight this March, is filing another complaint against the decision, the Sme daily reported.
Money for “Robo and Jano”
Špirko stepped forward back in March to explain what happened between him and a witness who testified on alleged fraud at the Interior Ministry, after which he stood accused of an attempt to exert pressure on the witness. At the same time, the prosecutor wanted to say how the testimony of that person led to a criminal complaint regarding a scheme at the Interior Ministry, related to the purchase of IT and network devices.
“Finally society can understand who governs this state and how, and to whose benefit,” Špirko said, announcing he was filing a criminal complaint against Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák, Police Corps President Tibor Gašpar, NAKA head Peter Hraško, and the national anti-corruption unit head, Robert Krajmer.
The witness described specific companies who took part in the order, the people involved and the relations between them within the scheme.
Špirko said the witness in his testimony brought up two key individuals: the first mentioned is Milan (whom he only describes by his first name), who allegedly oversaw the entire scheme and the people involved in the order, “a close person of Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák and Finance Minister Ján Počiatek”. Based on Špirko’s account, Milan was in charge of making sure the two ministers would have their interests satisfied. Milan was also close to people at the Government’s Office.
The other person Špirko mentioned as a key person is only nicknamed “Peňaženka” (Slovak for "wallet"). Špirko did not give the name of this person as he is not a public figure. The role of this person was to create the transaction history of the money in the books.
“This money was mostly meant for Jano and Robo,” Špirko said. The only role of Peňaženka was to control the flow of money and the legalisation of the money for the interior minister and the finance minister (Kaliňák and Počiatek), both of the ruling Smer party.
Problems after meeting journalists
Špirko faced several problems after the March press conference. Finally, the disciplinary committee claimed in June that he had violated the duties of a prosecutor and hence committed a disciplinary transgression against the law.
However, the committee chose not to impose a punishment, even though Special Prosecutor Dušan Kováčik had originally proposed a financial penalty.
