Marian Kočner Convicted in Case Investigated by Murdered Journalist Ján Kuciak

A court in Slovakia has handed down a verdict against businessman Marian Kočner in an economic crimes case — the very scheme once investigated by journalist Ján Kuciak, who was murdered in 2018. The ruling has not yet come into force.

The case concerns illegal VAT refunds totalling more than €8 million (over 193 million crowns), funnelled through several companies during the sale of property at the mountain resort of Donovaly, as well as the siphoning of funds from a golf complex in the village of Báč.

Suspended sentences and fines

Kočner and his two co-defendants received suspended sentences and fines — €50,000 and €25,000 (roughly 1.2 million and 600,000 crowns respectively). Judge Roman Puchovský, quoted by the TASR news agency, stated: “The panel of judges has clearly concluded that the defendants committed the crimes described in the indictment.” Defence lawyers for all those convicted have already filed an appeal with Slovakia’s Supreme Court.

Kočner was previously convicted of forging promissory notes belonging to the Markíza television channel. In that case, he cannot apply for parole before 2033, when he will turn 70.

The case that cost Kuciak his life

These very financial schemes were the subject of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak’s reporting. In 2018, he was murdered along with his fiancée Martina Kušnírová at their home in the village of Veľká Mača, in the Galanta district — both were just 27 years old.

In the case concerning the ordering of Kuciak’s murder, courts acquitted Kočner several times, but the Supreme Court overturned those rulings each time. Regarding the murder of the journalist and his fiancée itself, three final verdicts have already been issued: the hitmen, Miroslav Marček and Tomáš Szabó, were each sentenced to 25 years in prison, while the intermediary, Zoltán Andruskó, is serving a 15-year sentence.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz