Godfathers of the Czech Underworld

Before delving into those stories, it’s important to remember how the term ‘mafia’ is being used in this context. The situation is not simply a central European version of The Sopranos. Certainly, the figures connected to this activity have been accused of gangster-like behavior. However, more often they are accused of circumventing the established conventions and rules of business, using political contacts who are allegedly paid off or intimidated into furthering their business interests. Sometimes, these interests can seem quite banal and un-mafia like until it becomes clear how they, supposedly, achieved their goals.

One affair, which Kmenta recounts in the first book, concerns the way in which Mrázek obtained the Eggenberg brewery, based in Český Krumlov. The brewery was sold at auction in 1991. Mrázek and his business partner Jiří Shrbený obtained the company for 75 million CSK. According the Kmenta, the company was valued at 700 million CSK. He also states that a fellow bidder alleged to being offered 5 million crowns to withdraw his bid. Neither the man who offered the money nor the bidder are identified by name in the book. Any sense of wrongdoing is more implied. Namely, how did Mrázek come to purchase the brewery for such a low price?

According the Kmenta, Mrázek set up a meeting for Sekyra with Václav Klaus, who was the Chairperson of the Chamber of Deputies at the time. In the transcript of the police wiretap published in the book, Sekyra claimed that Klaus – who is identified by the code name Professor – would speak with the head of Nomura, the Japanese bank which owned IPB. However, it should be stressed that Klaus’ involvement has never been confirmed due to a lack of evidence [http://zpravy.tiscali.cz/sekyrova-praha-praha-prohnila-47721] (link in Czech). Sekyra also claims Mrázek’s role in the affair was “marginal” (link in Czech). Following this affair, IPS was sold to Skanska, and IPB went into receivership in a dramatic daylight raid by police (in Czech).

Fall of the Godfather
On the evening of January 26, 2006, outside the headquarters of his company in Durychova Street in the district Lhotka, Mrázek was shot once directly through the heart by an unknown assassin. A doctor tried to save his life, but Mrázek died within a few minutes. After a little over three years of investigation, the police were unable to find any evidence to prosecute someone and so closed the case. This was not the first time Mrázek was shot at and the manner of his death has done more than anything to sustain speculation about what he did in his life.

Suffice to say the accusations were political dynamite. Then-prime minister Jiří Paroubek, held a special press conference to deny the allegations, especially those connecting him and his party to the underworld. Paroubek maintained a lengthy campaign against Kubice. When the former police officer was made Minister of the Interior in April 2011, Paroubek called the appointment “scandalous”. Later that year, he published a book Český Watergate in which he claimed the Kubice Report was worse than the wire-tapping scandal of News of the World.

Around the time the case broke in the press, Janoušek was involved in a car accident. His Porche Cayenne hit a Volvo in the rear. Janoušek allegedly fled the scene by driving off, but the driver, a Vietnamese woman, chased him to a nearby traffic light where he’d stopped. She stood in front of his car to prevent him fleeing further and he apparently rammed her twice with his car and drove off, only to be arrested nearby, at which time he was found to have a blood-alcohol level of 0.22%. He was later charged by police with causing grievous bodily harm and menace due to intoxication.