The package of shares – 34 percent in total – of the company Transpetrol, a.s., never changed ownership from state hands to a group of businessmen surrounding Ignác I., the Regional Court in Žilina rules on June 30, the SITA newswire reported.
The court found the group guilty of fraud and of preparing a crime of legalising the income from criminal activities made with accomplices and of the crime of violating one’s obligations when administering property of others, SITA wrote.
The defendants were sentenced to prison from 46 months to nine years while Ignác I. received a sentence of nine years. The verdict is not effective yet as the prosecutor appealed it. The defendants can appeal it also within eight days after it has been delivered.
This criminal dispute has been protracted at the Regional Court in Žilina since 2002. According to the prosecution, 647 shares of Transpetrol worth about €66.38 million were transferred fraudulently. According to the Slovak Economy Ministry, this verdict will be the most important from among all 150 trials connected to the Transpetrol case. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
