The police charged one company and two people with subsidy fraud when applying for a subsidy for an innovative line for the production of toasted bread.
She estimated the damage at 100 million crowns. In a press release, Jaroslav Ibehej, the spokesperson of the National Center against Organized Crime, informed about this today, but did not mention the names of those prosecuted. In 2018, the Penam company from the Agrofert group received a subsidy of one hundred million for the line from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which former prime minister and chairman of the ANO opposition movement Andrej Babiš put into trust funds.
The police secured a property owned by the accused company as a replacement value of the proceeds of crime. In addition to subsidy fraud, the headquarters is also prosecuting the accused for damaging the financial interests of the European Union. The case is supervised by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. The accused face five to ten years in prison, and the police are investigating them at large.
Criminalists claim that the accused submitted false information to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and hid essential facts when applying for a subsidy. They actually received a subsidy from the state budget, in full. “Subsequently, as a result of the European Commission’s audit, the subsidy provided was not refunded by the European Union to the Czech Republic, as the project was marked as ineligible for reimbursement,” described Ibehej.
In March 2022, the ministry announced that it would withdraw the one hundred million dollar subsidy for the toast bread production line from Penam. The office decided to take this step after receiving documents from the European Commission about the lack of innovativeness of the production line project at Zelená luka Bakery. European auditors stated that he was focusing on a product that is already being produced within the Agrofert holding. At that time, Agrofert responded by saying that it received support in accordance with the subsidy rules and that it insisted on the uniqueness of the line. Current statements of the company and the Ministry of ČTK are looking for.
Source: zpravy.tiscali.cz
