NS: Roskova Receives Two-year Suspended Sentence in Farm Subsidy Fraud Case

Bratislava, 20 May (TASR) - The Supreme Court (NS) on Wednesday found former Smer-SD MP Lubica Roskova guilty in the farm subsidy fraud case, giving her a two-year suspended sentence with a three-year probation period. The court also imposed probation supervision on Roskova, a fine amounting to €10,000, and a ban on applying for money from the EU budget during the probation period. If she fails to pay the fine, an alternative sentence of one year in prison will be imposed. The verdict is final and valid. The Supreme Court also overturned the ruling of the first-instance court, and it decided not to recognise the Agricultural Payment Agency (PPA) as an injured party in the proceedings. As a result, the agency cannot claim damages related to these criminal proceedings. Roskova faced charges of damaging the financial interests of the European Union and subsidy fraud. She didn't come to the court to hear the verdict in person on Wednesday. Roskova's lawyer Ondrej Urban is satisfied that his client no longer has to pay almost €152,000 in compensation to PPA. He also agreed with the appellate court's decision to reduce the sentence. According to prosecutor Ladislav Masar, the appellate court made the right decision. "I very much appreciate the fact that the court dealt with the case thoroughly, slightly revised the legal classification and fixed the mistakes that were made during the proceedings. In my opinion, it was a very well-considered decision," stated Masar. The Specialised Criminal Court (STS) in Pezinok (Bratislava region) found Roskova guilty in this case in 2024, giving her a three-year suspended sentence with five years of probation. The defendant was supposed to pay almost €152,000 in compensation for damages caused to PPA. The court partly modified the indictment's legal qualification, which reduced the extent of the penalty. According to the indictment, Roskova's firm was receiving farm subsidies for land that it neither owned, nor cultivated. The case concerned payment applications from 2016 and 2017 and came under investigation as of 2018. ko/df