Ex-deputy VZP director suspected of laundering 26 million crowns

Police detained Petr Honek, former deputy general director of VZP, the Czech Republic's largest health insurance company, along with two other people last Thursday, simultaneously searching the offices of VZP and around ten pharmaceutical companies. All three were later released without charge, but journalists have learned that detectives from the National Organised Crime Agency (NCOZ) suspect Honek and his wife Jana of laundering 26.3 million crowns through ATMs.

No formal charges have been brought against the former official. The reason for the detectives' interest is revealed in the record used to justify the request for the searches of the couple's homes: it states that Honek — formerly deputy general director and later head of VZP's Ústí regional branch — is suspected of “criminal activity of a legalisation nature,” that is, money laundering allegedly carried out together with his wife.

How the money was deposited via ATMs

According to the record, the couple gradually made 162 cash deposits at various ATMs in Ústí nad Labem and Prague, paying money into their own accounts as well as into the account of Honek's mother, Jaroslava Honková. In total, the deposits amounted to 26,332,600 crowns.

Investigators note that the couple acted cautiously, staying below the threshold at which a bank is legally required to ask about the origin of the money: the millions were deposited in small batches, averaging around 160,000 crowns at a time. According to police calculations, the total sum does not match the couple's official, taxable income. “Given the way these deposits were made, it is clear that this involved the legalisation of proceeds from criminal activity, or at the very least the legalisation of undeclared income,” the detectives believe.

Honek promises to explain everything

Petr Honek, who now heads the regional hospital in Příbram, published an official statement on the institution's website on Tuesday. He says he is ready to provide the police with the necessary explanations. “I am convinced that during my time with my former employer I did nothing illegal or punishable. I am ready to give the police all necessary cooperation and I am confident that I will be able to properly explain all the circumstances and any possible suspicions,” Honek said.

However, he did not explain why he and his wife deposited 26 million crowns gradually in small sums, or where the money came from. He told journalists that he “cannot comment on this matter because he is bound by a confidentiality obligation,” and suggested contacting his lawyer — who also declined to comment on the case. Honek's wife, Jana Honková, did not offer any explanation either: over the phone she apologised, saying she had no time at the moment, and promised to call back later, but never did.

Honek has no intention of stepping down from his position as hospital director. “This whole affair has no bearing whatsoever on my current work at the Příbram regional hospital, its normal operations or the provision of medical care,” he said.

Career, business and political ties

Honek has headed the Příbram regional hospital since the start of September this year. Before that, he worked in the private sector as manager of the Czech branch of the biotech company Amgen. He joined VZP fourteen years ago and, with a five-year break, worked there until this year. He owns the consulting firm Pure Health, which he transferred into his wife's name for the duration of his time at VZP.

Honek also has connections in high political circles: in the last municipal elections he ran as an independent candidate on the ODS party list in Libežnice, in Central Bohemia, and won. In the home municipality of ODS chairman Martin Kupka — who was mayor there for many years and now sits on the council — Honek chairs the local council's finance committee. This year he will not be running again. His wife, Jana Honková, heads the non-profit organisation MAS Nad Prahou, which brings together municipalities, non-profits, local entrepreneurs and active residents to develop the region north of Prague.

The couple also own considerable property. In the early 2000s they built a family house in Libežnice. They also own an eighty-square-metre flat in Prague's Krč district. They bought another flat — nearly a hundred square metres, in Prague's Břevnov — in 2020 through the firm Pure Health, paying 12 million crowns under the sales contract. A year later, Honek and his wife, together with Pure Health, bought a cottage near Trutnov, for which, according to the contract, they paid 2.3 million crowns.

Not VZP's first corruption scandal

The Honek case is just one strand of the NCOZ investigation, which is examining suspicions of corruption and the unlawful handling of medical data at the country's largest health insurer. Journalists have learned that the suspects also include, for example, Jiří Mrázek, director of VZP's medical care payments department: his mobile phone has been unreachable since last week, and he has not been coming to work — VZP's management sent him home, citing so-called “obstacles to work.”

Police have carried out checks at VZP more than once in recent times. In November last year, for instance, thirteen people were charged in connection with alleged influence over IT procurement worth hundreds of millions of crowns: according to investigators, the winner of the tender was known in advance, and a group of interconnected firms managed to inflate the prices of computer hardware and software purchased by VZP. In another case — part of the large-scale Dozimetr investigation — police had previously charged former VZP deputy director Tomáš Knížek, whom investigators believe was involved in corruption surrounding a contract for the preparation of documentation.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz