Motol Hospital Case: Construction Firm Geosan Accused of Offering 67-Million-Crown Bribe

Czech police have filed charges against Geosan Group — one of the country's largest construction companies — as part of the corruption case surrounding Prague's Motol Hospital. According to investigators, company managers intended to hand over bribes totaling 67 million crowns to former hospital director Miloslav Ludvík and his deputy Pavel Budinský in exchange for a major contract to insulate the hospital's central building.

That figure is several times higher than the sum that kicked off the investigation back in February last year, when Ludvík, Budinský and other participants in the scheme were first arrested over what was then "only" 10 million crowns.

What was promised in exchange for silence on inflated prices

Investigators believe the bribes were meant to secure the hospital leadership's approval for repeated price increases on the large-scale renovation of the main building. In the indictment reviewed by journalists, police state: "All the accused understood that this sum was deliberately and significantly inflated compared to any objectively justified costs."

From the outset, charges on the Geosan side have been brought against the company's founder and co-owner, Luděk Kostka, and commercial director Ivan Havel. Since it was top managers of the firm who allegedly offered the bribes, Czech law extends liability to the company itself — meaning Geosan Group now faces charges as a legal entity, risking a fine or a ban from public tenders.

Recordings from the corridor and the office

Investigators managed to record a conversation in the hospital administration's corridor in which Deputy Director Budinský recounts Geosan management's original promises: 30 million crowns for Director Ludvík and 20 million for Budinský himself. According to police, who also have video footage from his office, Budinský ultimately received 18 of the promised 20 million crowns from Havel in cash-filled envelopes.

Ludvík, investigators say, wanted his bribe in a different form — a four-room apartment with two parking spaces in a new residential complex in Prague's Břevnov district. With custom finishing, police estimate such an apartment would have cost 37 million crowns. This same apartment was the basis for charges against Ludvík a year ago, and it now appears again in the case against the entire company — although the deal itself was never finalized due to the arrests that followed.

Detectives also believe Ludvík and Budinský demanded another 10 million crowns from Geosan for signing the final amendment to the billion-crown contract to insulate Motol's so-called Blue Pavilion — an amendment that increased the construction budget by a further 85 million crowns. The hospital directors reportedly planned to split this sum five million crowns each.

The accused deny wrongdoing

Ludvík, who served as hospital director for many years, has called the charges a pointless police construct from the very start. He confirms he wanted to buy an apartment from Geosan and have it custom-fitted, but insists the deal never went through because another buyer was already disputing the price with the developer. "The apartment was legally encumbered. A court had awarded it to someone else. We considered it, but there was a fairly serious legal defect," Ludvík said in an earlier interview.

He also denies asking for money over the Blue Pavilion, claiming that a recording of a conversation at a Prague restaurant contains no mention of "five million, twice." Geosan Group itself has stated it disagrees with the charges, has filed a complaint against them, and intends to use every available legal means of defense. Kostka, Havel and Budinský have not publicly commented on the case, though based on the overall context, they too deny wrongdoing.

The Motol Hospital case also covers other hospital contracts — including construction of a 5-billion-crown oncology center, laundry services, and grounds maintenance. According to the press office of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, which is leading the investigation due to the use of EU subsidies in some of the procurements, the total number of accused individuals and organizations has reached 27 — 19 individuals and eight companies. Some defendants in less significant corruption episodes have already pleaded guilty.

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Source: seznamzpravy.cz