Court: Former NBU Head Aurel U. Receives Suspended Sentence

Pezinok/Bratislava, 28 August (TASR) - The Specialised Criminal Court in Pezinok on Friday handed down a one-year suspended sentence with a two-year probation period to former head of the National Security Authority (NBU) Aurel U. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons], finding the defendant guilty of the misdemeanour of breaching his duty in the administration of entrusted property. The case concerns the development of the Iskra (Spark) information system of the Economy Ministry, designed for crisis management. The verdict is not final, as both the prosecutor and the defendant have appealed. According to STS judge Jan Buvala, the evidence presented did not clearly establish a profit motive on the part of the defendant. "There was no direct intent on the part of the defendant to enrich himself," he said, adding that the system had been developed in an uneconomical manner. An investigator from the now-defunct National Criminal Agency (NAKA) charged Aurel U. in September 2022 with the crime of breaching his duty in the administration of entrusted property, together with the crime of manipulating public procurement. He was alleged to have committed the offences while working in a senior position at the Economy Ministry. The case concerns the Iskra information system designed for crisis management, specifically contractual relations between the Economy Ministry and commercial companies, dating at least from 2013 to 2017. According to the prosecution, the contracts were concluded in breach of specific laws. The system ultimately proved unusable, the prosecution pointed out. mf