Appeal court to hear Čapí hnízdo case on 31 August; Nagyová given conditional sentence
The Prague appellate court will return to the Čapí hnízdo case on 31 August and 1 September. MEP Jana Nagyová faces confirmation of a three-year conditional sentence for subsidy fraud.
Appellate court to review Nagyová's conviction for subsidy fraud in August
The Prague appellate court has scheduled the hearing of MEP Jana Nagyová's (ANO) appeal in the Čapí hnízdo case for 31 August and 1 September, according to information from the judicial server infoSoud and as first reported by České noviny.
In May of this year, the first-instance Prague municipal court sentenced Nagyová to a three-year conditional sentence with a probationary period of five years and a fine of 500,000 crowns for subsidy fraud and causing damage to the financial interests of the European Union.
This was the court's third ruling in the matter. On two previous occasions, the court acquitted Nagyová of the charges. Most recently, the court was bound by a previous ruling of the appellate court, which instructed it to find both Nagyová and ANO leader and Prime Minister Andrej Babiš guilty. Judge Jan Šott, however, expressed doubts about the MEP's guilt when delivering the verdict. Nagyová reiterated her denial of guilt in her closing statement.
Criminal proceedings against Babiš, who is also listed as a defendant in the case, are currently suspended. The Chamber of Deputies did not authorise his prosecution in early March of this year. Should Babiš retain his parliamentary mandate in the next election, a decision on his potential prosecution would rest with the lower chamber in its new composition.
The prosecution alleges that Babiš, at the turn of 2007 and 2008, arranged for the company Farma Čapí hnízdo to be removed from the Agrofert holding and for its shares to be sold to his children and partner. According to investigators, he did this so that the company would ostensibly meet the conditions for obtaining a fifty-million-crown subsidy intended for small and medium-sized enterprises. According to the prosecution, Nagyová then successfully submitted a subsidy application while deliberately concealing information about the company's connection to Agrofert.
The state prosecutor claims that the payment of the subsidy caused damage of 49.9 million crowns to the regional council of the Central Bohemian Region. The company later returned the disputed subsidy. Both Babiš and Nagyová have consistently denied their guilt.
Source: České noviny