Roman Janoušek | |
Birth Date: | 1968 7, df=yes |
Birth Place: | Czechoslovakia |
Nationality: | Czech |
Occupation: | businessman, lobbyist |
JUDr. | |
Spouse: | Simona Janoušková |
Roman Janoušek (born 3 July 1968) is an influential billionaire businessman and lobbyist from the Czech Republic.[1] In November 2014 he started serving a 4.5-year sentence he received for his hit-and-run automobile accident in March 2012.[2]
In June 1993 Janoušek co-founded Medea Real. He later made a lot of money in magazine publishing and real estate.
Janoušek has been under investigation regarding allegations of tender-rigging and bribery. It is also alleged that his friendship with Pavel Bém, mayor of Prague between 2002 and 2010, helped him in developing his business activities.[1] He was one of the targets of the 2013 Czech political corruption scandal which led to the downfall of Prime Minister Petr Nečas and his coalition government.[3]
On April 30, 2014, Janoušek was handed a 3-year prison sentence for a hit-and-run accident that took place in Prague in March 2012. It is claimed that he had been driving drunk when he collided with another car. He ran over the 51-year-old woman driver causing grievous bodily harm when she attempted to stop him from leaving the scene. Janoušek faced ten years in prison.[4] Both the prosecution and Janoušek appealed the verdict.[5] The court eventually decided to increase Janoušek's prison sentence to 4.5 years and raised the term of his driving ban from 5 years to 7, stating that the injury sustained by the other driver was not the result of an accident but of a deliberate criminal act on the part of Janoušek.[6] On November 18, 2014, Janoušek began serving his sentence in the Brno city jail.[7] Both the prosecution and Janoušek appealed to the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic but the verdict was upheld on July 28, 2015.[8]