František Mrázek
Encyclopedia
František Mrázek (1 February 1958 – 25 January 2006 in Prague
) was a controversial Czech
entrepreneur, often referred to as the "Godfather of Czech Organized Crime". Mrázek covertly influenced the Czech politics for almost twenty years. In 2006 he was assassinated by a (still unknown) sniper. Most of the publicly available information about his criminal activities and contacts with the politicians leaked from police archives (which include wiretapping records and Mrázek's own collection of blackmail material) after his death. These sources suspect he was involved in over 30 murders.
region as his name appeared in the circles of foreign currency speculators (in Czech
: veksláci). In 1986 Mrázek spent two months in custody and was subsequently conditionally sentenced. In February 1987, Mrázek consented to cooperate with the criminal investigation department of Czechoslovak police. However, he himself was spied on by the police team Omega.
(1989) Mrázek at first focused on voucher privatization
. Together with his business partners, he took the opportunity offered by the chaotic situation at the beginning of Czech economic transformation, and "laundered the dirty money" from the previous times. He later connected his business activities with real estate. Obtaining money from Czech banks, often through the others, Mrázek specialized in the buying and reselling of realities. He dealt with buildings that were fraudulently overvalued, earning hundreds of millions in Czech crowns. He established many similar companies owned by so-called "white horses" (bogus owners, usually with Russian names). He later transferred the credits to the other firms in order to camouflage these fraudulent machinations. The Czech police investigated under suspicion of fraud, however, it was not proved as Mrázek was not legally involved in any of the firms. From 1991 to 1994 František Mrázek managed to wring an astronomical amount of money from Czech banks - more than 1.14 billion Czech crown
s.
At the beginning of 1990´s, Mrázek, together with renowned Czech singer Karel Gott
, established the foundation Interpo, dedicated to helping children of policemen killed in the line of duty. Gott however withdrew from the collaboration when the foundation was suspected of dishonest financial machinations. Gott later stated that he "hadn't noticed Mrázek's connections with organized crime".
Mrázek cooperated with many controversial entrepreneurs such as Tomáš Pitr and Miroslav Provod, both later convicted for tax fraud. In 2000 Czech television
(Czech public television broadcaster) aired a report on Mrázek and Provod with information about their connections to the bankruptcy of several small banks and the big Czech bank, IPB.
In January 2000 Mrázek joined developer Luděk Sekyra
in an attempt to acquire major Czech construction company IPS.
entrepreneurs. Later, this corporation was also influenced by people connected with the former communist regime and secret services. Russian government rendered about 50 billion Czech crowns, however, after opaque financial and bank operations only 20 billion came to Prague
.
Mrázek's connections with Czech politics are documented on police wiretaps. He was spied on by Czech anti-corruption police many times; the largest police action oriented to his person was called Krakatice (Giant Squid
), established in 1999 to investigate relations between Czech politicians and groups of organized crime. The case was closed in 2002 and information contained in it didn't help prove any suspicions. However, shortly before Czech Parliament elections in 2006 some information from a file concerning contacts between Mrázek's close collaborator Igor Šafranko and politician Vlastimil Tlustý (former Czech Minister of Finance) spread to the public. Tlustý later stated that he wasn't involved in either corruption or organized crime, and he broke his contacts with negotiator Šafranko.
František Mrázek was in long-term contact with Miroslav Šlouf, the chief-consultant of former Czech Prime Minister Miloš Zeman
. He also attempted to influence other Members of Czech Parliament including Ivan Langer
, current Minister of the Interior and Informatics of Czech Republic. Langer later stated that he wasn't in connection with Mrázek, and he rejected all speculations as "nonsense".
Mrázek was never accused or sentenced after 1989.
report "Na stopě", Mrázek offered a two-million Czech crown reward for information leading to the attacker.
On 25 January 2006, František Mrázek was shot and killed by an unknown assailant in Durychova Street, Prague 4, in front of the seat of his firms and companies. Only one shot was used and Mrázek died almost immediately. The investigation into his death was postponed until December, 2006 and remains unsolved. According to the police investigation, he was shot with a sniper rifle by a professional assassin; the assassination was carefully and professionally planned.
, published information on František Mrázek in three books. The reliability of his investigation was however questioned and on 21 November 2008 Kmenta stated: "...in agreement with the editor-in-chief, I published only absolutely verified information, derived from various sources". The 2008 book Kmotr Kmenta (The Godfather Kmenta) by Přemysl Svora was published in response to the controversy.
The case of František Mrázek (Krakatice) wasn't investigated properly, even though three police chiefs and ministers were replaced in their posts. It is entirely possible that police and investigators worked under immense pressure and were forced to stop the investigation. According to Mladá Fronta Dnes the problem is that the file contains many names of prominent politicians of both leading parties in the Czech Republic: Civic Democratic Party and Czech Social Democratic Party
. Former Czech premier Mirek Topolánek
stated on 15 September 2008 in the Czech newspaper Hospodářské noviny: "The police and secret services - at least a part of them - may have wanted to resolve this case, but they were silenced or intimidated."
In February 2009 Karel Tichý, former elite detective of the Czech anti-corruption police, claimed that he wanted to speak publicly about the circumstances of alleged interconnection between organized crime and Czech politicians. However, Ivan Langer, the current Czech Minister of the Interior and Informatics, manifested that he would refuse his request. Tichý himself has been interrogated many times by the secret police since 1995.
The case was definitively closed on 27 May 2009. Mrázek's murderer wasn't found.
Mrázek's son Michal, who inherited father's wealth, publicly warned Czech politicians he has access to a hidden archive of compromising material collected by his father.
, under heavy fine and years of imprisonment. The law was criticised by the Czech media as an attempt of politicians to avoid future embarrassments as in Mrázek's case.
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
) was a controversial Czech
Czech people
Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...
entrepreneur, often referred to as the "Godfather of Czech Organized Crime". Mrázek covertly influenced the Czech politics for almost twenty years. In 2006 he was assassinated by a (still unknown) sniper. Most of the publicly available information about his criminal activities and contacts with the politicians leaked from police archives (which include wiretapping records and Mrázek's own collection of blackmail material) after his death. These sources suspect he was involved in over 30 murders.
Communist Czechoslovakia
Mrázek set up a smuggling business during the communist era. He "dealt" in a variety of articles including wristwatches, walkmans and textiles of Western origin, and even with gravestones from Czech Jewish cemeteries. He was also involved in the criminal underground of the KolínKolín
Kolín is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic some east from Prague, lying on the Elbe river.-History:Kolín was founded by king Přemysl Otakar II in the 13th century, first mentioned in 1261. Later on, 1437, a castle was founded here...
region as his name appeared in the circles of foreign currency speculators (in Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
: veksláci). In 1986 Mrázek spent two months in custody and was subsequently conditionally sentenced. In February 1987, Mrázek consented to cooperate with the criminal investigation department of Czechoslovak police. However, he himself was spied on by the police team Omega.
Post-revolution
Following the Velvet RevolutionVelvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
(1989) Mrázek at first focused on voucher privatization
Voucher privatization
Voucher privatization is a privatization method where citizens are given or can inexpensively buy a book of vouchers that represent potential shares in any state-owned company...
. Together with his business partners, he took the opportunity offered by the chaotic situation at the beginning of Czech economic transformation, and "laundered the dirty money" from the previous times. He later connected his business activities with real estate. Obtaining money from Czech banks, often through the others, Mrázek specialized in the buying and reselling of realities. He dealt with buildings that were fraudulently overvalued, earning hundreds of millions in Czech crowns. He established many similar companies owned by so-called "white horses" (bogus owners, usually with Russian names). He later transferred the credits to the other firms in order to camouflage these fraudulent machinations. The Czech police investigated under suspicion of fraud, however, it was not proved as Mrázek was not legally involved in any of the firms. From 1991 to 1994 František Mrázek managed to wring an astronomical amount of money from Czech banks - more than 1.14 billion Czech crown
Czech Crown
Czech Crown/crown can refer to:*the currency of the Czech Republic, see Czech koruna*loosely to:**Lands of the Bohemian Crown**the crown of St. Wenceslas, see Crown of Saint Wenceslas...
s.
At the beginning of 1990´s, Mrázek, together with renowned Czech singer Karel Gott
Karel Gott
Karel Gott is a Czech Schlager singer, and an amateur painter. He is considered as the most successful male singer in former Czechoslovakia and currently in the Czech Republic; he has being voted the Most Favorite Male Singer in the annual national pool Český slavík in total thirty-six times...
, established the foundation Interpo, dedicated to helping children of policemen killed in the line of duty. Gott however withdrew from the collaboration when the foundation was suspected of dishonest financial machinations. Gott later stated that he "hadn't noticed Mrázek's connections with organized crime".
Mrázek cooperated with many controversial entrepreneurs such as Tomáš Pitr and Miroslav Provod, both later convicted for tax fraud. In 2000 Czech television
Czech television
Czech television may refer to:*Television in the Czech Republic*Česká televize...
(Czech public television broadcaster) aired a report on Mrázek and Provod with information about their connections to the bankruptcy of several small banks and the big Czech bank, IPB.
In January 2000 Mrázek joined developer Luděk Sekyra
Luděk Sekyra
Luděk Sekyra is a Czech entrepreneur, founder of real estate development company "Sekyra Group".After graduation from a secondary school in Kaplice he was admitted to Faculty of Law, Charles University in Prague. He became an official of Socialist Youth Union and a member of Communist Party of...
in an attempt to acquire major Czech construction company IPS.
Influence on Czech politics
Mrázek, together with another entrepreneur Tomáš Pitr, was considered the head of the financial group which controlled large chemical conglomerate SETUZA and the oil company Český olej (Czech oil). This group attempted (not only in connection with SETUZA) to influence the discharge of Czech government for its own benefit. He was also involved in the case of "resolution of the Russian debt", later called "the Czech fiddle of the century". He helped to arrange meetings between Czech and Russian politicians in that case. Russia owed the Czech Republic aproximatelly 170 billion Czech crowns. Former Czech Minister of Finance Ivo Svoboda negotiated the selling of the debt with Austrian entrepreneur Barak Alon and also with Mrázek. The Czech government later signed an opaque contract with the corporation Falkon owned by GeorgianGeorgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
entrepreneurs. Later, this corporation was also influenced by people connected with the former communist regime and secret services. Russian government rendered about 50 billion Czech crowns, however, after opaque financial and bank operations only 20 billion came to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
.
Mrázek's connections with Czech politics are documented on police wiretaps. He was spied on by Czech anti-corruption police many times; the largest police action oriented to his person was called Krakatice (Giant Squid
Giant squid
The giant squid is a deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae, represented by as many as eight species...
), established in 1999 to investigate relations between Czech politicians and groups of organized crime. The case was closed in 2002 and information contained in it didn't help prove any suspicions. However, shortly before Czech Parliament elections in 2006 some information from a file concerning contacts between Mrázek's close collaborator Igor Šafranko and politician Vlastimil Tlustý (former Czech Minister of Finance) spread to the public. Tlustý later stated that he wasn't involved in either corruption or organized crime, and he broke his contacts with negotiator Šafranko.
František Mrázek was in long-term contact with Miroslav Šlouf, the chief-consultant of former Czech Prime Minister Miloš Zeman
Miloš Zeman
Miloš Zeman is a well-known Czech politician. He was a member and leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party, former speaker of the chamber of deputies from 1996 until 1998, and the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 until 2002. He was a frequent rival of Václav Klaus...
. He also attempted to influence other Members of Czech Parliament including Ivan Langer
Ivan Langer
MUDr. Mgr. Ivan Langer is a Czech politician, member of the Civic Democratic Party since 1991. He is a vice-chairman of the CDP. Since 2006 to 2009 he was a Ministr of the Interior and Informatics. In 2000 Langer secretly lobbyied on behalf of developer Luděk Sekyra, who tried to acquire major...
, current Minister of the Interior and Informatics of Czech Republic. Langer later stated that he wasn't in connection with Mrázek, and he rejected all speculations as "nonsense".
Mrázek was never accused or sentenced after 1989.
Assassination
An attempt to murder Mrázek occurred in 2002. He was wounded, but survived (and since then used armoured car). Later, on the Czech televisionCzech television
Czech television may refer to:*Television in the Czech Republic*Česká televize...
report "Na stopě", Mrázek offered a two-million Czech crown reward for information leading to the attacker.
On 25 January 2006, František Mrázek was shot and killed by an unknown assailant in Durychova Street, Prague 4, in front of the seat of his firms and companies. Only one shot was used and Mrázek died almost immediately. The investigation into his death was postponed until December, 2006 and remains unsolved. According to the police investigation, he was shot with a sniper rifle by a professional assassin; the assassination was carefully and professionally planned.
Post-death
Jaroslav Kmenta, the chief-reporter of the Czech daily newspaper Mladá Fronta DnesMladá fronta DNES
Mladá fronta Dnes, also known as MF DNES or simply Dnes , is the second most sold daily newspaper in the Czech Republic. Its name could be translated into English as Youth Front Today...
, published information on František Mrázek in three books. The reliability of his investigation was however questioned and on 21 November 2008 Kmenta stated: "...in agreement with the editor-in-chief, I published only absolutely verified information, derived from various sources". The 2008 book Kmotr Kmenta (The Godfather Kmenta) by Přemysl Svora was published in response to the controversy.
The case of František Mrázek (Krakatice) wasn't investigated properly, even though three police chiefs and ministers were replaced in their posts. It is entirely possible that police and investigators worked under immense pressure and were forced to stop the investigation. According to Mladá Fronta Dnes the problem is that the file contains many names of prominent politicians of both leading parties in the Czech Republic: Civic Democratic Party and Czech Social Democratic Party
Czech Social Democratic Party
The Czech Social Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in the Czech Republic.-History:The Social Democratic Czechoslavonic party in Austria was founded on 7 April 1878 in Austria-Hungary representing the Kingdom of Bohemia in the Austrian parliament...
. Former Czech premier Mirek Topolánek
Mirek Topolánek
Mirek Topolánek is a former prime minister of the Czech Republic and former President of the European Council. A member of the Civic Democratic Party, he was chairman of the center-right party between November 2002 and March 2010, succeeding Václav Klaus, who was elected President in 2003.On 24...
stated on 15 September 2008 in the Czech newspaper Hospodářské noviny: "The police and secret services - at least a part of them - may have wanted to resolve this case, but they were silenced or intimidated."
In February 2009 Karel Tichý, former elite detective of the Czech anti-corruption police, claimed that he wanted to speak publicly about the circumstances of alleged interconnection between organized crime and Czech politicians. However, Ivan Langer, the current Czech Minister of the Interior and Informatics, manifested that he would refuse his request. Tichý himself has been interrogated many times by the secret police since 1995.
The case was definitively closed on 27 May 2009. Mrázek's murderer wasn't found.
Mrázek's son Michal, who inherited father's wealth, publicly warned Czech politicians he has access to a hidden archive of compromising material collected by his father.
Law against publishing wiretapping records
In February 2009 Czech parliament amended criminal law with explicit ban on publishing any account of police wiretappingTelephone tapping
Telephone tapping is the monitoring of telephone and Internet conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connection was an actual electrical tap on the telephone line...
, under heavy fine and years of imprisonment. The law was criticised by the Czech media as an attempt of politicians to avoid future embarrassments as in Mrázek's case.