Czech Minister of Justice Pavel Brazic has resigned after a dispute over how he handled Bitcoin donations from a man convicted of drug trafficking.
The value of the donation in question reaches approximately $45 million (Czech crown of 1 billion).
At the heart of the scandal is Tomas Zikovsky, known as the founder of the Sheep Market, the largest illegal dark web market in the Czech Republic, released in 2021. Szeokovsky was sentenced to nine years in 2017 for embezzolment and drug dealing. In 2013 alone, over 11,000 Bitcoin transactions were made through the sheep market, with Jizikovský holding a committee on each transaction.
Following Jizikovský's release, the court ruled that the electronic equipment that had been seized earlier by police at the beginning of the year would be returned. These devices included a Bitcoin wallet and an access code. At the time of Jizyikovský's arrest, the cryptocurrency was worth around 20 million kronors (approximately $800,000), and is currently over 300 million kronors (approximately $130 million) due to the rise in Bitcoin prices. The ministry has regained about 1 billion croners from the wallet.
However, the National Center for Organized Crime (NCOZ) has launched an investigation to see if the transfer is money laundering. Detectives arrived at the Justice Department building to collect documents, but Blazek publicly said the transaction was “very legal” and “no more legal.”
Following a growing backlash in the public and political worlds, Blazic announced his resignation from his position.
*This is not investment advice.
