Czech justice ministry should have rejected crypto gift, auditors say

The Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republic ought to have rejected a Bitcoin donation of $ 45 million that a big political scandal has fueled within the nation has discovered an exterior audit.

The digital forex donation, made by a convicted drug seller, resulted within the resignation of his former head, Pavel Blažek, who nonetheless states that he has finished nothing unlawful.

Czech Ministry ought to have refused the donation, auditors say

The Ministry of Justice in Prague shouldn’t have accepted a billion Czech crowns within the type of a cryptocurrency donation as a result of it may have acknowledged the potential dangers, in keeping with an impartial audit, partially made public by the division itself.

The federal government establishment realized that the Bitcoin present from unlawful proceeds may have originated, the authors of worldwide accounting and consultancy Grant Thornton, the Nationwide Radio -Omroep český Rozhlas, concluded that Friday was unveiled.

The auditors are satisfied that officers haven’t taken the required steps to get rid of the dangers earlier than the donation is accepted, in order that the ideas of excellent governance didn’t come up.

Shruutí první části Auditu: pic.twitter.com/pa98WZ63BQ

– Ministerstvo Spravedlnosti čr (@spravedlnostcz) 31 July 2025

“Previous to accepting the donation, the Ministry of Justice was conscious of related circumstances that point out a major danger that the donation may come up from the proceeds of felony actions,” mentioned the worldwide audit firm within the abstract, additionally quoted by Polico, with the emphasis on:

“Beneath these circumstances we consider that the Ministry of Justice shouldn’t have accepted the donation with out taking additional comply with -up steps to get rid of this danger.”

Scandal arouses political controversy earlier than the October vote

This 12 months, the Crypto affair shook the Czech political institution after it turned recognized that the Ministry of Justice had accepted 480 BTC from Tomáš Jiřikovský, a former operator and drug seller of DarkNet Market that point served in jail.

The cash, value round 1 billion Czech Koruna (roughly $ 45 million) on the time, have been offered in a collection of public auctions, organized by the ministry. As beforehand reported by Cryptopolitan, Pavel Blažek was compelled to depart his perform within the midst of the worry that the scandal can hurt the ruling coalition previous to the upcoming elections this fall.

Opposition teams benefited from Blažek’s brief -sighted choice to just accept the bitcoins and initiated a vote with out belief in parliament, survived by the Petr Fiala cupboard in June.

The minister, a member of the Civic Democratic Get together (ODS) of Fiala, was changed by Eva Decroix, who promised to analyze the case earlier than the parliamentary elections in October.

The promised probe contains the exterior audit of Grant Thornton, the second a part of which needs to be launched on the finish of August.

Czech police and the nationwide headquarters of the nation for the struggle in opposition to organized crime additionally work to find out whether or not the Bitcoin donation comes from white -washed cash.

Ex Justice Minister doesn’t implement misconduct for his half

Pavel Blažek, who resigned to take the political accountability for the scandal, continues to say that he acted in good religion and throughout the legislation. In commentary on social media, he famous that the audit doesn’t register a violation of a particular authorized obligation or laws.

TZV. Shutnutí První části auditu neuvádí porušení žádné konkrétní právní povinnosti či právního předpisu, což tvrdím od počátku “aféry” tvrzení, jež byla a jsou s darovací smlouvou spojena a už Dlouho Diskutována Numerous prostoru …

– Pavel Blažek (@blazek_p) July 31, 2025

In considered one of his current messages on X, he emphasised:

“There are new findings, simply appropriate textual content for merchandise heads, however with outdated content material. Though repetition is alleged to be the mom of knowledge …”

In one other tweet, he emphasised that “till a felony courtroom condemns the donor of a particular felony exercise that’s straight associated to the donated bitcoins, issues concerning the invalidity of the donation contract are utterly irrelevant.”

If the Czech state invalidates the donation contract, it should give the present again to the donor, Blažek has labored out and provides: “This can shut a interval of 10 years of incompetence … wherein the state has not obtained something from the attainable (!) Legal exercise of the donor.”

Firstly of June his colleague within the authorities, Minister of Finance Zbyněk Stanjura, rejected the opposition to his personal resignation and refused to share accountability. He admitted that he was conscious of Blažek’s intention to just accept the crypto, he claimed that he was attempting to persuade him to abstain.