(Luxembourg, 12 June 2026) – Ten suspects have pleaded guilty to public procurement fraud, in an investigation into suspected corruption in the award of public contracts for road cleaning and marketing services, led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Ostrava (Czechia).
The case concerns procurement fraud in connection with small-scale tenders organised in the period from 2020 till 2023 by two public entities in the Moravian-Silesian Region: the Road Administration of the Moravian-Silesian Region and the Moravian Energy Centre. The tenders, which were partly financed by EU funds, related to road cleaning and marketing services. The tendering procedures are understood to have been manipulated to favour pre-selected bidders, who paid bribes in order to secure the contracts.
All suspects charged earlier in this investigation pleaded guilty.
One of the accused is a former Deputy Governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region. A plea agreement has been reached with the former public official, stipulating a suspended prison sentence of three years and a probationary period of five years, subject to court approval. He will also be prohibited from receiving subsidies and from participating in public procurement procedures for a period of five years. In addition, he agreed to paying a financial penalty of around €103 000 (CZK 2 500 000). The former public official has also repaid €20 000 (CZK 500 000) of the €29 000 (CZK 700 000) of the total damage caused. The remaining was compensated by other suspects.
Nine other accused persons agreed to a combination of suspended sentences and financial penalties. In addition, some will be subject to bans on receiving subsidies and participating in public procurement procedures.
Finally, the criminal proceedings were conditionally discontinued for three additional suspects, accused of subsidy fraud and attempted credit fraud. Each of them is required to pay €2 000 (CZK 50 000) to support victims of crime.
The total amount of financial penalties agreed upon with all the accused amounts to €311 000 (CZK 7 525 000).
The plea agreements will be submitted to the Regional Court in Ostrava in the coming days and are subject to approval.
All persons involved are presumed innocent until proven guilty by the competent Czech courts of law.
The EPPO is an independent public prosecution office of the European Union. It is responsible for investigating, prosecuting, and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the EU.