Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis was acquitted in a fraud case concerning European Union money, bolstering his bid at a political comeback in this month’s presidential election.
(Bloomberg) — Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis was acquitted in a fraud case concerning European Union money, bolstering his bid at a political comeback in this month’s presidential election.
A Prague court on Monday freed Babis of charges that a company belonging to his business empire illegally used 50 million koruna ($2.2 million) in EU subsidies about 15 years ago. The chemicals, agriculture and media billionaire has long denied wrongdoing.
The case has dogged one of the richest Czechs for a significant part of his political career and contributed to his ouster from power in 2021. Babis had also clashed with the European Commission over concerns of conflict of interest concerning his businesses, which receive the bloc’s funds, during his term as premier.
The court issued the ruling less than a week before the first round of the presidential ballot, in which Babis is a favorite to advance to a run-off. He leads the strongest opposition party with a wide lead in opinion polls, and has repeatedly called the fraud case a political attack orchestrated by his rivals.
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