The Czech opposition party “Action of Disgruntled Citizens“ (ANO) plans to file a no-confidence motion against the government after Justice Minister Pavel Blažek resigned over accepting a $45 million bitcoin gift for the ministry from a former prisoner, Reuters reported, citing ANO deputy head Karel Havilček, BTA reported.
Blažek, a lawyer and experienced senior official in Prime Minister Petr Fiala's center-right Civic Democratic Party, denies doing anything illegal with his decision to accept the gift. The bitcoin gift represented just a fraction of the bitcoins returned to the former prisoner after he served his sentence.
The scandal is another blow to the government, as the ruling party lags behind the populist ANO-led opposition in opinion polls ahead of elections scheduled for October 3-4.
“Unless something absolutely extraordinary happens, we will file a no-confidence vote,“ said Havilcek, whose party controls enough seats in parliament to trigger a no-confidence vote. “There is no other option,” he added.
The gift made by the former prisoner represents 30% of his bitcoin holdings, which have been confiscated and frozen over about a decade, during which the value of bitcoins has risen dramatically. Czech media reported that the court ordered the assets to be unfrozen after the prisoner served his sentence. It is unclear why the former prisoner decided to make the gift and he declined to comment on the case to Czech media.
Fiala said today that he understood the public's suspicions that a civil servant may have abused his position to launder the proceeds of crime and that the case should be investigated thoroughly.
The former prisoner was convicted of running an illegal online business and was imprisoned from 2017 to 2021 on charges of fraud and trafficking in drugs and illegal weapons, Czech media reported.