Libuse Barkova, friend and business associate of former PM Stanislav Gross' wife, sentenced to 5 years for insurance fraud

A family friend of former prime minister Stanislav Gross has been sentenced to five years in prison for insurance fraud. The Prague City Court ruled on Tuesday that businesswoman Libuse Barkova had made false property damage claims in 2001 and 2002, which netted her several hundred thousand dollars. Ms Barkova, who has also been investigated for tax evasion, immediately appealed Tuesday's verdict. She first came to national attention in 2003 when her conversations with Interior Minister Gross and a Defence Minister were caught up in a police wiretap, and it was revealed that Ms Barkova owned a building housing a brothel. Stanislav Gross resigned as prime minister this spring in part because of questions about his wife's business dealings with Ms Barkova.