Roman Janoušek (born 3 July 1968) is an influential billionaire businessman and

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

from the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. In November 2014 he started serving a 4.5-year sentence he received for his hit-and-run automobile accident in March 2012.

Business activities

In June 1993 Janoušek co-founded Medea Real. He later made a lot of money in magazine publishing and real estate.

Allegations of corruption

Janoušek has been under investigation regarding allegations of tender-rigging and

bribery Bribery is the Offer and acceptance, offering, Gift, giving, Offer and acceptance, receiving, or Solicitation, soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With reg ...

. It is also alleged that his friendship with

Pavel Bém Pavel Bém (born 18 July 1963) is a Czech physician and politician. Between 28 November 2002 and 30 November 2010 he served as the Mayor of the Capital City of Prague, and re-elected in 2006. On 19 November 2006 he was elected Deputy Leader o ...

, mayor of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

between 2002 and 2010, helped him in developing his business activities. He was one of the targets of the 2013 Czech political corruption scandal which led to the downfall of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Petr Nečas Petr Nečas (; born 19 November 1964) is a Czech former politician who served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic and leader of the Civic Democratic Party from 2010 to 2013, and as Member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) from 1993 to 2013 ...

and his

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

Hit-and-run

On April 30, 2014, Janoušek was handed a 3-year prison sentence for a

hit-and-run In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions. Additional obligation In many jurisdictions, there may be an ...

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. Both the prosecution and Janoušek appealed the verdict. 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. On November 18, 2014, Janoušek began serving his sentence in the Brno city jail. Both the prosecution and Janoušek appealed to the

Supreme Court of the Czech Republic The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic (') is the court of highest appeal for almost all legal cases heard in the Czech Republic. As set forth in the Constitution of the Czech Republic, however, cases of constitutionality, administrative law a ...

but the verdict was upheld on July 28, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Janousek, Roman Czech businesspeople 1968 births Living people Czech prisoners and detainees Czech billionaires Czech lobbyists