Bahamas-resident fugitive's request for Czech residency rejected
Thursday, July 8, 2004
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AFP): Controversial
Czech-born financier Viktor Kozeny's request for long-term residency in the
Czech Republic has been rejected, a police spokeswoman said Wednesday. Kozeny,
who holds Irish citizenship and lives in the Bahamas, is facing criminal
charges of fraud worth millions of dollars on both sides of the Atlantic.
He was dubbed the Pirate of Prague after thousands of people in the
then-Czechoslovakia lost around 300 million dollars (243 million euros) in his
coupon privatisation scheme during the early 1990s, shortly after the fall of
communism, when his investment fund went into liquidation.
Soon afterwards he fled to the Bahamas where he remains fugitive and has
managed to avoid prosecution. Kozeny, 40, has
also been indicted on criminal charges for a 182 million dollar fraud in the
United States. He is accused of swindling American investors by persuading
them to invest in privatisation schemes in Azerbaijan.
Kozeny unsuccessfully ran as a candidate in the Czech Republic in the mid-June
European Parliament elections, gaining just 2,030 votes and 0.08 percent of
all votes cast. Even though an international
warrant has been issued for his arrest by the Czechs, he applied for long-term
residency, which he would have needed to become a Czech MEP.
"The request has been turned down. Kozeny does not meet the goals of
residency," police spokeswoman Nela Gajduskova told Czech news wire CTK.
In May, Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell hinted that Ireland was
considering stripping Kozeny of his Irish citizenship.
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