On Thursday, the Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok, western Slovakia found the former head of Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) counter-intelligence Peter Gasparovic and former police officer Ladislav Vican guilty of accepting bribes. Gasparovic received a sentence of 11 years in jail and a fine of €50,000 or, alternatively, 15 months in jail if he will not pay. As for Ladislav Vican, the court handed down a sentence of 10 years in jail and a €40,000 fine or, alternatively, one year in jail if he will not pay. Ladislav Vican will also have his car confiscated. "They asked and received directly for themselves and for another person a bribe, committing a large-scale crime," claimed judge Ruzena Sabova. She pointed out that Peter Gasparovic asked for the sum of at least €350,000 from businessman Dusan Bockay, and he was given €200,000. According to the prosecution, Gasparovic and Vican offered to reverse the decision of the Financial Administration's Criminal Office (KUFS) to impound the property of a company called Bopal for a bribe of €400,000 from company head Dusan Bockay. The money was supposed to be shared with other individuals. Since the decision was not reversed, only the advance payment of €200,000 changed hands. The two police officers were arrested in December 2020 as part of the National Criminal Agency (NAKA) operation nicknamed Judas. Among the defendants were also former police chief Milan Lucansky, SIS deputy head Boris Bena and other high-ranking functionaries from the police and the secret service.
Source: TASR
