Jan Kuciak: Murdered Slovak Journalist Uncovered Italian Mafia Ties To Prague

Prague, Feb 28 (CTK) – Italian businessman Antonino Vadala, who is linked to the Italian mafia and Slovak top politicians, according to murdered Slovak reporter Jan Kuciak, owns the Vadala Group CZ firm in the Czech Republic, daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) writes today.

 

Vadala has owned the firm since last November. Until then, its name was Redo Water, according to the register of companies.

 

The firm, seated in the most expensive street in Prague, Na Prikope, is running business in real estate, but it has almost no property, MfD writes.

 

The murder of the 27-year-old journalist Kuciak and his fiancee, who were shot dead in his home, was most probably motivated by his investigative work, the police say.

 

The Aktuality.sk Slovak portal, for which he worked, released today his unfinished article, describing the activities of the Italian underground in Slovakia and people close to the Italian mafia ‘Ndrangheta in the surroundings of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-Social Democracy, Smer-SD).

 

Kuciak mapped the business links of Maria Troskova, Fico’s current assistant, and Viliam Jasan, former MP of Smer-SD and current secretary of the Government Security Council, to Vadala. He is directly linked to ‘Ndrangheta, Kuciak wrote.

 

Vadala, 42, with a permanent residence in Trebisov, southeast Slovakia, is running business mainly in this country.

 

His name has figured in 32 Slovak firms, ten of which are dealing with solar power plants. The executive and shareholder of his Czech firm Vadala Group CZ was Filip Dusek, running business both in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia, MfD writes.

 

Dusek told CTK today that he has never run business together with Vadala.

 

Last November, he sold a 100-percent stake in Redo Water, a company that was economically inactive and without assets to Vadala, he said.

 

“I could either have the company liquidated, which would require costs, or sell it for the nominal price. I did not know and still do not know Mr Vadala’s planned business activities involving the company,” Dusek said.

 

Further Italians, whom journalist Tom Nicholson mentioned in connection with the activities of ’Ndrangheta in Slovakia, Brunno Vadala and Diego Roda, do not operate in the Czech Republic, MfD adds.