Oligarch Jozef Brhel faces corruption charges
Along with former tax authority FS President František Imrecze, police also brought corruption charges against Jozef Brhel on Friday. Brhel is one of the wealthiest Slovaks and was among the oligarchs setting up the Smer party. He denied the charges and has not been arrested, as he is on a Caribbean island. His brother Peter was charged, too. Also charged are Michal Suchoba and Jana Rovčaninová from Allexis. Suchoba had been in touch with Marian Kočner. The charges allege that the state lost €42m on FS’ IT tenders tailored to suit Brhel and Suchoba.
Robert Fico and Robert Kaliňák, architects of the corrupt system, have avoided charges so far. Fico responded nervously to the most recent arrests, maintaining they are politically motivated. The police emphasize that the arrests and charges are rooted in facts. They charged 18 people in the Purgatory case (police top brass extorted businesspeople and fed information to the mafia), of whom 10 pleaded guilty "wholly or in part." In the Mills of the Gods case (police-mafia ties) eight people have been charged and six of them have pleaded guilty.
