PRAGUE – Prague’s High Court cancelled a lower court ruling that acquitted former Prime Minister Andrej Babis of fraud charges in a $2 million case involving European Union subsidies.
The court returned the case for retrial to Prague’s Municipal Court, in accordance information revealed in a database of court paperwork on Friday.
The High Court issued the decision an afternoon previous however didn’t make it instantly public.
The Babis case concerned a farm referred to as the Stork’s Nest, which won EU subsidies after its possession used to be transferred from the Babis-owned Agrofert conglomerate of round 250 firms to Babis’ members of the family. Later, Agrofert once more took possession of the farm.
The subsidies had been supposed for medium- and small-sized companies, and Agrofert wouldn’t had been eligible for them. Agrofert later returned the subsidy.
Prague’s Municipal Court additionally acquitted in January his former affiliate, Jana Nagyova, who signed the subsidy request.
Babis pleaded now not accountable and time and again mentioned the charges towards him had been politically motivated.
It isn’t instantly transparent when the retrial may happen.
Babis, a billionaire, is recently within the opposition after his populist ANO centrist motion misplaced the 2021 parliamentary election. He used to be working to change into the Czech president within the election for the in large part ceremonial post in January however misplaced to Petr Pavel, a retired military basic.