Czech justice minister resigns over Bitcoin donations from criminals

The Czech Minister of Justice has resigned in relation to a case involving Bitcoin donated by criminals. On the 1st (local time), Czech Minister of Justice Pavel Vlasic resigned in relation to a case involving Bitcoin donated by a former drug trafficker.
He resigned in the wake of a controversy related to the sale of Bitcoin by the Ministry of Justice. The controversy began on May 28, when the Czech Ministry of Justice auctioned off approximately 500 BTC through its OfficialX account, which sold approximately 1
The funding will be used to digitize the justice system, tackle drug problems in prisons, and improve housing for prison staff.
However, Czech media Denik N reported that the source of the bitcoin was the dark web illegal trading platform "Sheep
The controversy escalated when the outlet reported that the man in question was Tomasi Jirikowski, an ex-convict who ran the online grocery store "Marketplace."
Zirikovsky was convicted in 2017 of EMBEZZLEMENT, narcotics trafficking and weapons-related offenses.
After his release in 2021, he is seeking the return of the 1,500 BTC that was seized at the time. In March of this year, his lawyer offered to donate one-third of the amount to the Ministry of Justice, but Vlasic refused.
The minister accepted the decision without even investigating. At a press conference, he said, "I had no way of investigating the matter, and I wasn't interested because it happened so long ago. His donation was not an attempt to repent."
However, criticism grew that basic due diligence regarding the source of the donations was not carried out in the process of accepting them.
At the time of the trial, Zirikovsky said the funds were being used on another dark web platform.
Possibility that he may have been linked to the cryptocurrency exchange Nucleus was raised, but he maintained that he acquired the bitcoins legitimately and was ultimately able to keep his assets.
With public opinion souring with four months to go until the general election, Petr Fiala
Prime Minister Fiala has broken with his longtime political ally, Minister Blazek, and is
Jek resigned on May 30. Meanwhile, Minister Vlasic said in his resignation statement, "I have not been involved in any illegal activities, but I have no intention of damaging the reputation of the government or the ruling coalition."