Entrepreneur Norbert B. to be Prosecuted in Custody

Bratislava, July 9 (TASR) – Nitra-based entrepreneur Norbert B. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons] will be prosecuted in custody, the Supreme Court decided on Thursday.

The court thus accommodated the complaint lodged by Special Prosecutor’s Office’s prosecutor against Sunday’s (July 5) decision of Specialised Criminal Court judge Michal Truban not to take the businessman into custody.

“Both formal conditions and legal deadlines for custody have been met,” stated Supreme Court senate chair Martin Bargel. He added that arguments raised by the prosecutor were more convincing.

Witnesses in the case have uncovered an unprecedented corruption case in Slovakia. “It was a corruption “mega machine”. The way it operated is unbelievable and it goes back as far as 2006,” underlined judge Bargel.

Norbert B., present in the courtroom, was put into handcuffs and escorted from Bratislava to a custody cell in Zilina. He is also a witness in the trial of the people accused of murdering journalist Jan Kuciak.

The prosecutor asked for custody for both Norbert B. and Peter K. so that they couldn’t continue their criminal activities, influence witnesses or thwart the investigation. They face charges of money laundering in the Agricultural Payment Agency’s (PPA) corruption case that involves bribes worth more than €10 million.