Ladislav Bašternák will not return to prison yet. Although the Regional Court annulled the judgment of the Bratislava V District Court, which waived the imposition of a summary sentence, it also stated that a 5-year sentence for a tax fraud was sufficient. He did not comply with the regional prosecutor’s office, which proposed a sentence of 7 years.
The Regional Court said that Bašternák paid almost 2 million euros in damages in the first proceeding, and in this new proceeding it was an incomparable amount of damages of 200,000 euros. “Given that he has been sentenced to forfeiture, he does not appear to have sufficient funds to pay damages.”
Two mitigating circumstances were found at Bašternák – leading a proper life and confessing. “We believe that a sentence of 5 years is a sufficient sentence.”
Bašternák is at large, he was released on parole at the end of January.
However, he is facing another court for further tax crime. The case is supervised by Ján Šanta, the prosecutor of the Special Prosecutor’s Office.
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