Seliga: French Prosecution Service Looking into Pociatek's Villa in Cannes

Bratislava, October 8 (TASR) - The French prosecution service has started to take action in the case of Slovak ex-finance and transport minister for Smer-SD Jan Pociatek and his villa in the French city of Cannes, For the People vice-chair and Independent MP Juraj Seliga as well as OLaNO leader and Finance Minister Igor Matovic reported at a joint press conference on Friday. Matovic and several other OLaNO representatives, shortly before the general election in 2020, travelled to Cannes to produce video-footage of a luxurious villa that allegedly belonged to the ex-minister, pointing out that the real estate was located in an affluent neighbourhood. The group stuck several signs reading “a property of the Slovak Republic” on the villa’s entry gate. Seliga noted on Friday that many people expected the Slovak prosecution service to investigate the ownership of the villa in 2020, but to no avail. Because of this, Seliga and his colleagues examined French and European case law as well as French tax law and approached the French authorities. The MP claimed that the French prosecution service has informed him that it has launched proceedings regarding the case. Based on the filing submitted by him and his colleagues, the French authorities are allegedly looking into suspicions of money laundering and tax evasion. Given the sensitive nature of the case, the service refused to provide more details for the time being, according to Seliga. On a related note, the MP remarked that he and his colleagues are examining a number of similar cases, indicating that several representatives and nominees of previous governments own immense assets abroad. Seliga described the current law on proving the origin of assets as toothless. He said that the whole process is complicated and lengthy, and individuals whose assets are subject to an investigation can easily transfer them to their relatives in the meantime. According to him, it should be a matter of elementary justice to amend the legislation. As for Matovic, the finance minister reported that he’s engaged in intensive talks with coalition partners on amending the law. Without naming any specific names, the minister claimed that some partners have been blocking the change, however. Matovic stressed in this regard that the coalition has committed itself to amending the law in its Manifesto, calling on coalition partners to take public interest into consideration. zel/mcs