The Czech justice ministry should not have accepted a gift that showed significant signs it could be tied to criminal activity, an external audit found.
The €40 million bitcoin donation to the ministry from a convicted drug dealer rocked Czech politics in June and triggered the resignation of then-Justice Minister Pavel Blažek, who comes from Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s conservative Civic Democratic Party (ODS).
The ministry auctioned off the gift in exchange for cash in a public sale, bringing in tens of millions of euros for the government.
“Prior to accepting the donation, the Ministry of Justice was aware of relevant circumstances indicating a significant risk that the donation could originate from the proceeds of criminal activity,” reads the summary of the first part of the audit, conducted by global firm Grant Thornton, posted by the ministry on its X account Thursday.
“Under these circumstances, we believe that the Ministry of Justice should not have accepted the donation without taking further follow-up steps to eliminate this risk,” the auditing firm concluded.
Blažek, the former minister who claims he acted legally, said that the findings “do not indicate a violation of any specific legal obligation or regulation.”
“There are no new findings, just a text designed for headlines, but with outdated content. Although, they say repetition is the mother of wisdom,” he added in a post on X.
The police and the National Headquarters for Combating Organized Crime are investigating whether the donation came from laundered money.
The new Justice Minister Eva Decroix promised to investigate the scandal ahead of the Czech parliamentary election that will take place in October.
