It was deputy defence minister Martin Bartak who sold a share in the respective company to Korplyakov, the paper adds.

Yet both Labsky and Bartak passed a security vetting of the National Security Office (NBU) to be allowed to handle classified data.

Bartak denies any connection with Russian mafia, the daily notes.

Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanova (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL) said she was prepared to speak with Bartak about the property transfer to Korplyakov.

The name Korplyakov also appeared in a secret report of the BIS civilian counter-intelligence service a couple of years ago. BIS then warned against this “ambassador” of the most influential Russian mafia called the Association for the 21st century.

“He headed a very aggressive group with versatile crime past,” former BIS chief Karel Randak told the paper, adding that the Russian mafioso was obsessed with arms.

Civic Democrat (ODS) chairman and current PM Mirek Topolanek mentioned the name Korplyakov two years ago when he accused Social Democrat (CSSD) head Jiri Paroubek of contacts with mafia bosses.

Korplyakov then ran business with Paroubek´s acquaintance Vaclav Kocka Jr. who was recently murdered after the presentation of Paroubek´s book.

Bartak sold a share in the MCS company (current ExotTop), which he set up with Labsky, to Korplyakov for 20,000 crowns. He said the transaction was carried out via a lawyer so he had no idea in whose hands the share would get.

Labsky told MfD that he met Korplyakov maximally three times during the three years when they were involved in MCS together.

The paper writes that Labsky is now managing the ZVI arms maker supplying strategic armament for the Czech military, and consequently, he has access to classified information about these arms.

Randak said he considered such contacts a security risk, MfD adds.

($1=19.490 crowns)

Czech arms maker manager ran business with Russian mafia – published: 07.11.2008, 08:40 | updated: 07.11.2008 08:43:17 – Author: ČTK – This story was found at: http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=342979

JOZEF Roháč, who has been on the run from Slovak and Hungarian police for nearly a decade, was arrested in Prague on October 26 on charges of driving under the influence.

Roháč is suspected of involvement in the murder of Róbert Remiáš in Bratislava in 1996. There is an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Hungary for involvement in at least 10 crimes, including a bombing in Budapest that killed four people in 1998. If found guilty, he faces life in prison.

Eva Miklíková, a spokesperson for the Prague police department, told the iDNES.cz news website that the police officers who stopped Roháč realised something was wrong when his Slovak-issued documents listed his age at 45.

“It turned out, of course, that the documents were fake,” Miklíková said.

She added, “The man (Roháč) had been hiding in Prague for six or seven years.”

Roháč was positively identified after 10 hours, and with the help of Slovak authorities, Miklíková said. At the time of his arrest, his blood alcohol level was 1.13 parts per thousand, well above the zero tolerance level in the Czech Republic.

Pavla Kopecká, a spokesperson for the Czech police, told the ČTK newswire that a Czech court will soon decide to which country Roháč will be extradited.

Slovakia charged Roháč in November 1999 with taking part in the murder of Róbert Remiáš, the go-between to a principal witness in the case involving Michal Kováč Jr, the former president’s son, who was abducted in 1995. According to investigators, Roháč carried out the killing with the help of Imrich Oláh and two unnamed people.

The principal witness in question was Oskar Fegyveres, a former agent from the Slovak Information Service (SIS), the country’s intelligence agency, who testified in September 1995 that the abduction was executed by SIS agents who were acting on orders from Ivan Lexa, former head of the SIS. Fegyveres fled the country immediately afterwards.

Remiáš was in contact with Fegyveres until his death on April 29, 1996, when his car exploded in Bratislava’s Karlova Ves district.

The charges against Roháč alleged that Remiáš’s murder had been ordered by Miroslav Sýkora, former head of the Slovak underworld, who was allegedly hired by Lexa. Police obtained that information from Karol Szatmári, an informant who had ties to the underworld.

Former Interior Minister Ladislav Pittner told the Plus 7 Dní weekly in December 1999 that Szatmári was not the only informant who provided such information concerning the Remiáš case.

“We can say with certainty that he made clear the connection between the SIS then and the underworld,” Pittner said.

Jaroslav Ivor, who headed the investigation into the abduction, told this reporter in an interview for The Abduction of Democracy, a 2001 book about the Kovač case, that other people from the SIS were also involved in Remiáš’s murder.

“The motive for his murder was that Remiáš was inconvenient for the SIS, and moreover, personally interested in the Kováč case,” Ivor said.

Since then, many of the key players involved in the case have been killed. On February 6, 1997, Sýkora was shot dead in front of the Holiday Inn Hotel in Bratislava. Oláh’s body was discovered on October 12, 2005 in Banská Bystrica. A DNA test revealed he had been killed in 1997. On April 22, 2006, Szatmári’s body was found in the River Váh near Komárno.

In September 2006, police dropped the charges against Roháč and Oláh. It also later dropped the charges against Lexa.

In 2002, then-Interior Minister Vladimír Palko told Radio Free Europe that Lexa had been charged with ordering Remiáš’s murder in March 1996, at a price of at least Sk2 million.

“Roháč installed the explosive and together with another man, they detonated it,” Palko said, recalling what his predecessor, Ladislav Pittner, had concluded.

René Vanek, a spokesman for the Bratislava Regional Prosecutor’s Office, told The Slovak Spectator that the charges against Roháč were dropped because his involvement in the Remiáš murder could not be proved.

Slovak General Prosecutor Dobroslav Trnka told the TA3 TV chancel on October 27 that Slovakia cannot now request Roháč’s extradition, as he has been detained in the Czech Republic “at Hungary’s request.”

“In any case, we have some loose ends to tie up, and Roháč is interesting for us,” Trnka said.
Asked whether this comment was in reference to the murders of Slovak mob bosses Robert Holub and Eduard Dinič, Trnka answered: “Yes, it might be.”

However, Martin Korch, a police spokesman, told The Slovak Spectator that Slovak police have only been searching for Roháč because of the warrant issued in Hungary.

In fact, the Hungarian branch of Interpol has already requested that Roháč be extradited there, the MTI press agency wrote. Roháč stands accused of at least 10 crimes committed in the spring and summer of 1998, MTI wrote.

The first case was a bombing on Aranykéz Street in Budapest on July 2, 1998.

A bomb went off under a Fiat, killing four people, including Hungarian businessman Tamás Boros, who was the principal witness in a fraud case against the Hungarian mafia. The explosion injured 25 other people, including foreigners.

Ladislav Pittner also told this reporter, in another interview for The Abduction of Democracy, that the Hungarian police found Roháč’s fingerprints on the explosive.

Later, it became clear that he was speaking about a different crime involving Roháč, which occurred on June 3, 1997.

In that case, Roháč is suspected of attempting to kill another Hungarian man involved with the mafia.

According to the MTI newswire, Roháč planted a 3.5 kilogram, remote-controlled explosive under a Bentley, but the device fell off because the magnet failed to hold.

Investigators found that the Bentley had been bought by one of Roháč’s associates using a forged ID.
Hungarian police also suspect Roháč of involvement in an explosion targeting the Hungarian Civic Union (Fidesz) politician József Szájer and József Torgyán, chairman of the Independent Smallholders’ Party (FKGP).

Bombing suspect caught – 3 Nov 2008 – The Slovak Spectator – Ľuba Lesná – This story was found at: http://www.spectator.sk/articles/view/33427/2/bombing_suspect_caught.html

Prague — On the afternoon of March 8, two unidentified gunmen wounded two Russian-speaking men on Pařížská street close to Old Town Square, leading to strong speculations that the incident is a part of an ongoing mafia war.

The victims, a 26-year-old who was shot in the leg and a 33-year-old who was shot in the arm, were hospitalized, and both gunmen escaped the scene, according to the Czech News Agency (ČTK).
The shooting was reportedly preceded by a heated argument between the victims and the assailants, but Prague police spokesman Ladislav Bernášek said it is too early in the investigation to provide further information.

Jan Šubert, spokesman for the BIS counter-intelligence told the daily Lidové noviny March 10 that he thought the shooting seemed to be part of “a continuing war between Caucasian groups, and the Armenian and Chechen mafias.” Šubert could not be reached by press time for further comment.
Previous similar incidents include the Nov. 13 stabbing of a Russian-speaking man on Wenceslas Square.

Two weeks later in Vinohrady, a hired gunman — reportedly targeting a Russian mafia boss — killed a driver in a case of mistaken identity. Šubert speculated that this most recent shooting could have ended a ceasefire agreement that the two groups may have reached late last year.

“The solution to a mafia war in Prague will be a complex and long-term process,” said Bernášek. “Initially we are planning to send more uniformed officers out on to the streets as well as plain-clothed policemen for the tourist season to ensure the safety of Prague visitors.”

Over the past year, other shootings in downtown Prague not related to suspected mafia activities included an April incident in which a passer-by was injured by a ricocheting bullet when a policeman fired at a suspected thief on Jindřišská street, according to ČTK. In July, two people suspected of extortion were shot by police near Uhelný trh square.

In order to minimize civilian casualties during chases with criminals, the police are considering using rubber bullets and shooting nets, according to a police press release.

Pařížská shooting linked to mafias – By Ondřej Bouda – Staff Writer, The Prague Post – March 12th, 2008 – http://www.praguepost.com/articles/2008/03/12/pa-sk-shooting-linked-to-mafias.php

Organized crime influenced Defense Ministry contracts, Mladá Fronta Dnes reported, quoting Roman Skřepek, head of the anti-corruption and financial crime unit of the Czech Police.

“It is one of the most extensive cases of corruption,” Skřepek said, adding that 24 ministry officials and associated entrepreneurs are currently accused of corruption.

According to state prosecutor Barnabáš Liška, the ministry was penetrated by a mafia which made tens of millions of crowns by manipulating contracts. He said that a few key individuals were involved in the manipulation of dozens of construction contracts worth hundreds of millions of crowns.

One of the key witnesses, former commander of the air force base in Náměšt nad Oslavou Martin Hejra, told military investigators that the many of the construction contracts at the base were hugely overpriced.
“Several builders confirmed it, but I couldn’t stop the swindles,” Hejra said. “Those in Prague always told me, ‘This is how it’s going to be.’”

Several former high-ranking ministry officials who resigned due to the frustration over the corruption also cooperated with the investigation, including Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Štalmach.
“Several times I suggested that the minister should fire the head of the property administration section, but it was in vain,” he said.

According to sources MFD did not name, the section chief would give subordinates slips of paper with the names of selected “winners” of construction or maintenance tenders, while speaking of completely unrelated things.
During the period of investigation, the maintenance budget for military buildings was 2.5 billion Kč. ($140.5 million).

Mafia involved in defense contracts – January 3rd, 2008 – http://www.praguepost.com/articles/2008/01/03/mafia-involved-in-defense-contracts.php