House Committee Fails to Convene on Tax Crime Probe

Bratislava, 12 February (TASR) - The House committee for defence and security didn't discuss the investigation of economic crime and tax fraud on Thursday, as a special emergency session of the committee, initiated by the opposition, failed to reach a quorum due to insufficient attendance by MPs. Committee chair Richard Gluck (Smer-SD) explained that Police Corps President Jana Maskarova was unable to attend the session. He promised the opposition MPs that the committee will address the issue at a later date. The session was requested by MP Andrea Turcanova (Christian Democratic Movement/KDH), who claims that the police have effectively given up prosecuting tax crime offenders with respect to the lack of VAT collected. She had asked that, in addition to Maskarova, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) should also attend the committee session. "For such serious matters, we must hold discussions in the presence of the top leadership of the Police Corps. I also reached out to the president of Financial Administration, who promised to attend such a committee session. That's why I told the MP yesterday in the chamber that, of course, we will discuss this issue, but unfortunately it's not physically possible to hold a full-fledged session today," Gluck told reporters, adding that the committee will certainly deal with the issue. mf/df