The Minister of Justice resigned in Czech Pavel Plask amid criticism that his ministry accepted a gift in the form of Bitcoin from a convicted criminal and then sold the cryptocurrency later for about a billion cornerstles (45 million dollars).
Local media reported that the Public Prosecution has opened an investigation into the matter. Plazic stated that he decided to resign, although he was not aware of any illegal actions.
“However, I do not want to harm the government’s reputation, nor the ruling coalition,” he added in a post on X.
Plask previously stated that he did not see any embarrassment in accepting the gift, as there is no evidence that it came from illegal activities. He asked, “Why is it not allowed for a person convicted of providing something to the state, as a kind of atonement, for example?”
Czech media reported that Bitcoin’s gift came from a condemned drug dealer.
Prime Minister Peter Viela – whose coalition behind the opposition in opinion polls before the elections that will take place next October – said that he is convinced that Plask spent good faith, but praised the “responsible” decision taken by the minister to resign.
This deal caused concern, as the Denick newspaper reported that the police opened an investigation on suspicion that the amount was collected by laundering.
According to the newspaper’s report, the donor was previously convicted of running an illegal platform on the dark network for the sale of drugs and medicines, and spent a 4 -year prison sentence.