Soprano Beňačková charged with fraud over inheritance, faces up to ten years imprisonment
Opera singer Gabriela Beňačková faces charges of attempted fraud connected to the will of an elderly heiress. She could face up to ten years in prison.
Soprano Beňačková in court: charged with will fraud
Soprano Gabriela Beňačková (79) faces criminal charges of attempted fraud, according to information from news website Novinky.cz published on Friday. The singer, who became renowned for her portrayal of Smetana's Libuše and Mařenka at the National Theatre, faces up to ten years behind bars.
According to the indictment, Beňačková, together with another woman, infiltrated as carers into the confidence of an elderly heiress over ninety years old, who was the owner of extensive property inherited from the late actress Slávka Budínová. Both accused women persuaded the elderly woman to draw up a will in their favour — the woman disinherited her own sons and left the property to each of them in half. Shortly afterwards, she died.
The Prague City Court halted the property transfer four years ago. It declared the 2019 will invalid based on the senior woman's health condition at that time, with her two offspring remaining as heirs under law. The public prosecutor charged both women in March of this year.
The trial has not yet begun. "The City Court in Prague received the indictment on 24 March and it has not yet been served to the accused. As regards the current procedural status of the case, standard activities provided for in the criminal code are currently being carried out at the file," said court spokeswoman Kateřina Eliášová. The judicial panel has three months from the submission of the indictment to set the date for the main hearing, that is until 24 June.
At stake is, among other things, an apartment building on Maltézské náměstí in central Prague near Charles Bridge — an inheritance from actress Budínová, whose value exceeds one hundred million crowns. Budínová died in 2002 and left the property, which includes several real estate assets, to antiques dealer Rudolf Příhoda. Following his death in 2018, the property passed to his mother Věra, who subsequently became the target of the conduct described in the indictment.
Beňačková, a holder of the Thália Prize, performed for many years on the stages of both the Slovak and Czech National Theatre as well as abroad, including in the USA.
Source: Novinky.cz