Final Word from Thursday, January 27, 2011
Whether Zdeněk Bakala misled the South Carolina Supreme Court a decade agoabout the value of his 34.5% stake in Patria Finance (only $6.0m) is indeed interesting,but it isn't the biggest question mark that Reportéři ČT raised this week. Moresignificant was the claim by Miroslav Motejlek that Bohuslav Sobotka, as financeminister, was the creator of Bakala's fabulous wealth. Sobotka privatized off the finalshares in OKD for a song, and it's not entirely clear - although Bakala denies it - thatBakala did not already own a stake in OKD through Karbon Invest. The problem isthat the Karbon Invest shares were bearer shares. They should have been seized aspart of the criminal case against the former OKD owners but for some strange reasonwere not. "Suitcase" Sobotka said he has nothing to do with Bakala. Perhaps not,but his best friend forever, lawyer Radek Pokorný, has everything to do with Bakala.
Glossary of difficult words
King Coal - a novel by Upton Sinclair about the conditions in the coal industry;
for a song - for a very low amount; Motejlek estimated that Bakala ultimately acquired OKD for 1% of its market value;
bearer shares - shares owned by the person currently in physical possession of them.