Police charge three more in bitcoin case, media link former minister Blažek

Detectives from the National Centre Against Organized Crime have charged three additional individuals in connection with last year’s donation of bitcoins to the Ministry of Justice. According to them, the suspects committed the criminal offenses of money laundering and abuse of official authority, said Radim Dragoun, the chief prosecutor, on the website of the High Public Prosecutor’s Office in Olomouc. The prosecutor’s office did not provide further details about the suspects. News outlets Seznam Zprávy, Deník N, and iROZHLAS, citing their sources, reported that the individuals include former Minister of Justice Pavel Blažek (formerly of ODS), his former deputy Radomír Daňhel, and Brno-based lawyer Kárim Titz.

“The prosecuted act is directly related to the donation of bitcoins to the Ministry of Justice. The criminal offense of abuse of official authority consists in exercising the powers of a public official in a manner contrary to another legal regulation, with the intent of securing unlawful benefit for another,” Dragoun said.

Blažek (formerly of ODS) resigned over the bitcoin case, but maintained that he had done nothing illegal by accepting the donation.