Ex-president Kiska Found Guilty of Tax Fraud

Presov, October 31 (TASR) - Former Slovak president Andrej Kiska (2014-19) has been found guilty of tax fraud by Presov Region Court and given a suspended sentence of one year with two years of probation, TASR learnt on Thursday. The verdict is final and cannot be appealed against. The case revolves around Kiska's 2013-14 presidential campaign costs, which Kiska put on the books of his company KTAG. The firm subsequently filed an illicit claim for a VAT refund, thus causing the state financial damages of €155,184. Kiska rejected the allegations. He faced charges along with KTAG executive official Eduard Kuckovsky, whose prosecution was halted in early October by the regional court due to the statute of limitations. Back in October 2023, Poprad district court handed down a suspended sentence of two years with three years of probation to Kiska, plus a fine of €15,000 and a six-year ban on running a business. The regional court thus commuted the original punishment, partly in light of this year's Penal Code amendments, which introduced a milder punishment structure for corruption and shortened statutes of limitations. Unlike in Kuckovsky's case, the court didn't recognise the shortened statute of limitations for Kiska, as he enjoyed immunity from prosecution as president during his five-year tenure. mf/df