Eight people arrested in Brno on corruption charges

Eight people have been arrested in Brno on suspicion of accepting bribes, participation in an organised criminal group, and abuse of official authority, in connection with the allocation of some apartments and non-residential premises in the city. Police officers from the National Centre for Combatting Organized Crime are conducting house searches, the Czech News Agency reports.

In recent years, there have been several police interventions in Brno in connection with the purchase of apartments and the taking of bribes. In one case, an organized criminal group that included local politicians from the ANO party were found to have influenced public contracts at the town hall of the Brno-central district. The former deputy mayor of the district was sentenced to 9.5 years in prison, and eight other people and two companies were also sentenced by the court.