Marián Kočner

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marián Kočner, 2016

Marián Kočner (born May 17, 1963 in Ružomberok ) is a Slovak entrepreneur who mainly works in the real estate, venture investment and financial development sectors. He was detained in custody in March 2019 on charges of being involved in the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak , and charges were brought against him in October 2019.

Career

Kočner grew up in Ružomberok in northern Slovakia and studied journalism in Bratislava. He then worked for several years as a reporter for (Czech) Slovak television. After the collapse of communism, Kočner switched to the private sector.

Kočner first gained public notoriety in 1998 for his attempt to take over TV Markíza . The television station was founded by the politician Pavol Rusko ( ANO ) with international partners and had difficulties getting a broadcasting license. Rusko had turned in a row silos Pohanka to obtain assistance in obtaining the license, and for the payment of 3 million German marks promised. TV Markíza was finally able to get the license without Pohanka's help and started operations on August 31, 1996. Pavol Rusko therefore refused to pay the amount to Pohanka. Pohanka sold his claim to Gamatex, a company owned by Marian Kočner. Kočner sued the claim and was awarded a majority stake in TV Markíza by the court . In September 1998, two weeks before the parliamentary elections , Kočner occupied the offices of the television station with private security guards and fired the senior managers. This event was seen by part of society as an attack on the freedom of the press, and there was a large demonstration in front of the offices of TV Markíza with appearances by opposition politicians. After two days, Kočner and his people left the building and the dispute continued in court. In 2000 Pavol Rusko bought Gamatex through middlemen, which ended Kočner's involvement in TV Markíza.

In June 2016, Marian Kočner made public the existence of four promissory notes that Pavol Rusko is said to have issued to him in 2000 in his role as General Director of TV Markíza. Rusko confirmed the issue in court and said the promissory notes should help to clarify the property dispute. On the other hand, the management of TV Markíza said the promissory notes were never recorded in the accounts. The television station sued Kočner and Rusko for forgery; In addition, tax proceedings began because Kočner had never officially declared possession of the promissory notes worth several million euros and no interest tax was paid.

Allegations and detention

In June 2018, Kočner and Rusko were arrested for forging promissory notes and several tax offenses.

In recent years Kočner has been suspected of engaging in illegal practices on several occasions, for example his name appears on so-called "mafialists" that the police allegedly created against suspected members of organized crime.

The New York Times sees Kočner's links to businessman Ladislav Basternak, who illegally received tax refunds through misleading land sales. Kočner's business practices and his ties to Basternak were an issue in the coverage of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak , who was murdered in February 2018. On the basis of Kuciak's research, the media published reports in 2018 that Kočner received half a million euros from Technopol after it fell victim to a hostile takeover. A few months before Kuciak's death, Kočner threatened him by phone that he would collect similar "dirty reports" about Kuciak and his family as the journalist had done: "I will look for your bodies in the basement." Kuciak filed a complaint. A police investigation came to the conclusion that Kočner's statements were not criminally relevant. Alena Zsuzsová, also suspected, is the mother of one of Kočner's godchildren, who is said to have commissioned the murder of Kuciak and was in contact with several influential people.

On March 8, 2019, Kočner was arrested and taken into custody on charges of ordering the murder of Jan Kuciak. In October 2019, the Slovak public prosecutor brought charges against Kočner in the case.

Kočner was added to the US Magnitsky Act sanctions list in 2019 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Marc Santora, Miroslava Germanova: Slovak Businessman Charged With Ordering Murder of Journalist Jan Kuciak . In: The New York Times . March 14, 2019, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed April 11, 2019]).
  2. ↑ a b Príbeh jednej televízie: Toto všetko si preskákala Markíza ( Slovak ) In: www.zivot.sk . October 4, 2013. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  3. ↑ a b Ševčíková Petronela: Ako Pavol Rusko and Sylvia Volzová zakladali a predávali Markízu . In: strategie.hnonline.sk . October 23, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  4. ^ A b Peter Tóth: Televízia Markíza obsadená (Slovak) . In: SME , September 16, 1998. Retrieved April 8, 2018. 
  5. ↑ Gamatex s ochrankou opustil Markízu, zamestnanci dostali záruky do 11th októbra (Slovak) . In: SME , September 18, 1998. Retrieved April 8, 2018. 
  6. ^ Marek Tettinger: Rusko v Markíze skončil, televíziu ovládli Američania (Slovak) . In: Hospodárske Noviny , November 2, 2005. Retrieved April 8, 2018. 
  7. ↑ Markíza prehrala, Kočnerovi má PLATIT miliony za čudné zmenky (Slovak) . In: SME , April 26, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2018. 
  8. ↑ Zuzana Petková: Kočner žaluje Markízu. Žiada milióny za Ruskove zmenky (Slovak) . In: TREND , May 3, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2018. 
  9. ↑ Miroslava Kernová: Markíza podala trestné oznámenie na Ruska a Kočnera ( Slovak ) In: oMediach.com . May 14, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
  10. ↑ Zuzana Petková: Kočner a zmenky: má ich veľa. Aj od Penty (Slovak) . In: TREND , June 21, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2018. 
  11. ↑ NAKA detains businessman Kočner . In: The Slovak Spectator . Petit Press. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  12. ↑ Matúš Burčík: Marián Kočner. Mafián, ktorý neexistuje ( Slovak ) In: SME . February 28, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  13. ↑ Annamária Dömeová: Mafiánske zoznamy - menoslov možných páchateľov (Slovak) . In: Hospodárske Noviny , June 21, 2005. Retrieved April 8, 2018. 
  14. ↑ Dusan Mikušovič: O čom Pisal zavraždený novinar Kuciak: Pátral vo verejných databázach, polovica z jeho posledných textov depending o Kočnerovi ( Slovak ) In: denník N . February 26, 2018. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  15. ↑ Adam Valcek, Zuzana Petkova: Half of the money from "stolen" Technopol went to Kočner's account. June 5, 2018, accessed April 18, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Springer and Ringier “horrified and stunned” about the murder of investigative journalist Kuciak and his fiancée. In: Meedia. February 26, 2018, accessed April 11, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Monika Tódová: Investigatívneho reportera aktualit Jána Kuciaka a jeho partnerku zavraždili, vláda Nuka milión EUR za odhalenie páchateľov ( Slovak ) In: denník N . February 26, 2018. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  18. ↑ Zsuzsová bola mesiac po vražde Kuciaka a Kušnírovej medzi smotánkou: Pozrite sa na jej pravú tvár! (Slovak), accessed October 29, 2019
  19. ↑ The price of Ján Kuciak's head was € 70,000 (en) . In: Slovak Spectator , October 1, 2018. 
  20. ^ Viktoria Grossmann: System Murder . Süddeutsche Zeitung September 2, 2019
  21. ^ Slovak man charged over double murder . In: BBC News . BBC. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  22. ↑ Gerald Schubert: New details of an old scandal shake Slovakia. In: derstandard.at. October 21, 2019, accessed October 21, 2019 .
  23. ^ US Department of State: Global Magnitsky Program Designations for Corruption and Serious Human Rights Abuse. 2019
personal data
SURNAME Kočner, Marián
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Slovak entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH 17th May 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Ružomberok