A major Bitcoin scandal has erupted in the Czech Republic, unsettling the government just a few months before national elections.

The controversy is about a convicted criminal’s donation of more than $45 million in Bitcoin to the Ministry of Justice. This caused widespread anger, led to the resignation of Justice Minister Pavel Blažek, and prompted opposition parties to call for a no-confidence vote.

The main issue is that Tomáš Jiříkovský sent the Czech Ministry of Justice 468 Bitcoins, which are valued at roughly $45 million. Jiříkovský is a convicted cybercriminal who was sent to prison in 2017 for hosting the “Sheep Marketplace,” a dark website where users could buy and sell illegal stuff like drugs and guns. The cops took his things when they arrested him, and he had a lot of Bitcoin.

Jiříkovský publicly donated some of the Bitcoin that had been confiscated from him back to the police after he was released in 2021. People said that the move was supposed to demonstrate that they were sorry. Critics, on the other hand, argue that it was an organized operation to disguise money laundering beneath a show of kindness.

Minister’s Resignation Amid Backlash

Justice Minister Pavel Blažek took the donation at first, but he didn’t look into where it came from. Since then, both the public and his political opponents have been very critical of his choice. Later, Blažek defended what he did by saying that he didn’t think taking the donation would cause any legal problems because he thought it was given in good faith.

However, the optics of a government agency getting a huge cryptocurrency gift from a known criminal were too bad. Blažek quit his job on May 30, to protect the administration’s reputation.

The resignation has only made people pay more attention to the current government. There are also new claims that high officials, such as Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura, knew about the donation ahead of time but didn’t do anything about it.

Opposition Pushes For No-Confidence Vote

The opposition, led by former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s ANO party, has taken advantage of the issue. Karel Havlíček, the vice-chair of ANO, said in public that the party is getting ready to ask for a vote of no confidence. He said, “We will call for a no-confidence vote unless something really strange happens.” There is no other choice.

Opposition leaders say that the scandal hurts the confidence of the court system and shows that the ruling coalition is bad at making decisions and running the country. They say that taking such a gift demonstrates a complete lack of respect for ethical and open principles.

Investigations Underway

Officials are currently looking into the details of the donation. The High Prosecutor’s Office in Olomouc is looking into possible abuses of power and money laundering. The police’s organized crime branch is also looking into whether any crimes were committed while the donation was being accepted and processed.

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