Civic Democrat rebel MP suspected of getting mob money

Phone conversations recorded by the police in 2001 suggest that Civic Democrat MP and critic of the party’s leadership Vlastimil Tlustý was on the payroll of organized crime, the daily Mladá Fronta Dnes reported on Thursday. The unofficial head of Czech organized crime, František Mrázek, talked to one of his aides about paying Mr Tlustý 3 million crowns. Vlastimil Tlustý has denied any contacts with Mr Mrázek, who was murdered in 2006. He has however consistently refused to identify the lender of some 2.3 million crowns, or nearly 140,000 US dollars, which he used to build his house.