The Czech Ministry of Justice should have refused the gift of the code, the auditor says

The Czech Republic’s Justice Department should have refused to donate $45 million in Bitcoin, which caused a massive domestic political scandal, an external audit found.

The digital currency donations made by convicted drug dealers led to the resignation of former head Pavel Brazic.

The Czech ministries should have refused to give, auditors say

Prague’s Justice Department should not have accepted the billion Czech crown in the form of cryptocurrency contributions, as it may have been able to recognize the potential risks, according to an independent audit, partially published by the department itself.

The agency realized that the gift of Bitcoin could have been born out of illegal income, and the author concluded from Grant Thornton, a global accounting and consulting firm that is Cesky Rozras, a national radio station released on Friday.

The auditor is confident that the authorities were unable to take the necessary steps to eliminate the risk before accepting the donation.

Summary of the first part of the audit: pic.twitter.com/pa98wz63bq

– July 31, 2025, Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republic (@SS The Justicets)

“Before accepting donations, the Ministry of Justice was aware of the relevant circumstances that demonstrated a significant risk that the donation could be derived from the proceeds of criminal conduct,” the global audit firm quoted in a summary cited by Politico as follows:

“In these circumstances, the Ministry of Justice believes that it should not have accepted the donation without taking further follow-up steps to eliminate this risk.”

The scandal stirs political debate ahead of the October vote

The code case shaking Czech political establishment this year after the Justice Department became known to have accepted 480 BTC from former darknet market operator and drug dealer Tomas Zhikovsky, who spent time in prison.

The coin, which amounted to around 1 billion Czech korna (approximately $45 million), was sold at a series of public auctions hosted by the ministry. As Cryptopolitan previously reported, Pavel Brazic was forced to quit his post ahead of the election this fall, fearing that the scandal would hurt the ruling coalition.

Opposition forces took advantage of Brazik’s myopia decision to accept Bitcoin and launched a vote of no confidence in the parliament, survived by Petr Fiara’s cabinet in June.

A minister who is a member of Fiara’s Civic Democrats (ODS) has been replaced by Eva Decolo, who pledged to investigate the lawsuit before the October assembly election.

The promised probe includes an external audit of Grant Thornton, with a second part of which should be released by the end of August.

The Czech police and the nation’s headquarters to combat organized crime are also working to establish whether Bitcoin donations come from laundry money.

The former Justice Minister has not maintained any fraud on his part

Pavel Brazic, who resigned to take political responsibility for the scandal, continues to argue that he acted in good faith and within the law. Commenting on social media, he noted that the audit did not register a violation of any particular legal obligation or regulations.

SO -CALLED. The initial summary of the audit does not represent a violation of any particular legal obligation or regulations.

-July 31, 2025

In one of his recent posts on X, he highlighted:

“The article headline has appropriate text, but it’s outdated. It’s said that repetition is the mother of wisdom…”

In another tweet, he emphasized that “consideration concerning the invalidity of a donation agreement is completely irrelevant until the Criminal Court convicts a donor of a particular criminal activity directly related to Bitcoin donated.”

If the Czech province voids the donor’s agreement, the gift to the donor will have to be returned, and Brazik added, “This concludes the decade of incompetence… The state has gained nothing from the potential (!) criminal acts of donors.”

In early June, his government colleague, Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura, refused to share responsibility and refused a call to oppose his own resignation. He admitted that he knew Brazik’s intention to accept the code, and claimed he had tried to persuade him to refrain.