Get Rich Quick: Czech Fraudsters

Kožený, who came back to the country of his birth in 1991, saw an opportunity to get a hold of potentially lucrative shares at low prices. He set up Harvard Průmyslový Holding a.s., (HPH), which has no connection to the university. The company offered people a return ten times the value of their vouchers if they wanted to cash out after a year. With the vouchers Kožený was able to invest in 50 companies. At one point he had control of 15% of the Prague stock market. For those who took up Kožený’s offer and cashed out early it was a windfall.

By 1994, Kožený was feeling the heat from this investigation and left the Czech Republic for the Bahamas never to return. However, he still ran HPH until it went into liquidation in 1997. After many years of trying to have him brought to the Czech Republic, Kožený and his partner Boris Vostrý were charged in absentia with deliberately depressing the share value of Sklo Union Teplice, whose shares HPH owned. This action resulted in the company’s assets being sold for 11.5 billion CZK. Last year, the two men were sentenced in absentia to 10 years for criminal fraud. Kožený has also been charged with bribery by a US court for his involvement in the privatization scheme of Azeri national assets.

Pitr’s largest and most notorious business acquisition was Setuza, a company which, through its subsidiaries, refined plant-based oils. Pitr’s then-company Český olej was able to buy Setuza with the “blessing” of former agricultural minister and current senator for ČSSD, Jaroslav Palas. However, in an interview with Václav Moravec for Czech BBC, Pitr denied that he had a “close or friendly relationship” with Palas. In the same interview Moravec questioned Pitr about his connection with other politicians. Pitr suggested they were minimal.

The former Prime Minister and retired leader of the Social Democrats, Jiří Paroubek, offered a different perspective on Pitr’s relationship to his former party. He accused Pitr of trying to ensure the failure of ČSSD. Moreover, as quoted in the same article, Paroubek named Jan Kubice (a current independent interior minister) as being under Pitr’s control. Kubice referred to this as a “bunch of drivel”. It should also be pointed out that when ČSSD was in government and distributing licenses for the production of bio-fuels, one of the beneficiaries was Pitr.

Last year, Pitr’s luck ran out and he was arrested on the ski slopes in St. Moritz, Switzerland. This year, Pitr lost his appeal against an extradition order to have him brought to the Czech Republic to serve his time.

The Runaway
At one stage, Radovan Krejčíř was known as one of the richest Czechs. Today, he is more famous for how he avoided arrest and fled the country. On the morning of June 18th, 2005 a team of 16 police with then-public prosecutor Jaroslav Dolejší raided Krejčíř’s villa in Černošice. During the search, Krejčíř got into his car and made his getaway.