Beňačková in court: “I’m not an inheritance hunter” in Prague

Opera singer Beňačková, accused in a case over the inheritance of an elderly woman with property in central Prague, rejected the charges in court on Tuesday. For nearly two hours she said that she does not consider herself an heiress and never chased money. The trial continues on 2 November.

“I am honestly not an inheritance hunter, I never was… I am truly innocent, I did not mean to do anything bad,” said the longtime soloist of the Prague and Slovak National Theatres in her defence. Asked by Judge Daniela Sára Sotolářová whether she believed she had a right to the inheritance, the singer answered no. According to her, she only wanted to carry out the last wish of Věra Příhodová — to divide the property equally between herself and Nováčková.

The house near Charles Bridge

Věra Příhodová's inheritance included, for example, a residential building on Maltese Square in central Prague, not far from Charles Bridge, worth about 200 million crowns. It also included the property of the actress Slávka Budínová, among it a house in Klárov. In 2002 Budínová left everything to the antiques dealer Rudolf Příhoda.

When Rudolf Příhoda died in 2018, the property passed to his mother Věra. She was already over ninety and suffered from senile dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Beňačková and Nováčková looked after her. Nováčková says she cared for the pensioner daily from 2016 until her death in January 2019, while Beňačková admitted on Tuesday that in the last six months of her life she looked after her only for a few days at a time.

According to the prosecution, in August 2018 both defendants forced the elderly woman to write a will in their favour.

“I didn't want anything”

“I did not count on the inheritance at all,” Beňačková declared, adding that she had known the Příhoda family for 50 years and was friends with the jeweller Rudolf. After his death, she said, she even refused movable property, such as furniture, which Příhodová offered her. “I didn't need anything,” the singer said.

As for the claims to the inheritance after Věra Příhodová's own death in January, the defendant noted that she was taken to a notary, who told her and Nováčková that the signed will was valid and that they were the lawful heirs. “I didn't want anything, I only wanted to help. I told Alena that Věra had always wanted to give her this house and that it was none of my business,” she said.

Asked by the judge why she had not renounced the inheritance agreement, the singer replied: “I was terribly apathetic, I didn't take it seriously.” She admitted she had made a mistake by not doing so publicly, apologised and added that she should have been more careful. She could not name which two documents about the Příhoda property she had signed. She only remembered the pensioner's will; according to her, the woman was “terribly afraid” of her two sons and therefore disinherited them, naming her and Nováčková as heirs. Had the friends actually received the property, Beňačková would have given up her half in favour of Nováčková.

“Věra loved her madly, considered her a daughter, wanted to adopt her, it was a family bond,” the singer said of Nováčková. According to her, both of them had lent the antiques dealer Příhoda large sums, including millions, and his mother supposedly wanted to thank them for her son's debts. “I am completely destroyed as a singer, my name is totally tarnished, but I swear I did nothing,” Beňačková added.

The singer Anna K. is also among the witnesses proposed for the 2 November hearing.

Read also: Apartments in Prague over 10 years: prices up 2.5 times — but only on paper

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz