Czech authorities have arrested convicted drug trafficker Tomas Jirikovsky in a deepening probe into a $45 million Bitcoin donation to the Ministry of Justice that ignited a political firestorm earlier this year.
Key Takeaways:
- Czech police arrested convicted drug trafficker Tomas Jirikovsky over a $45M Bitcoin donation.
- The donation, accepted without verification by former Justice Minister Pavel Blazek, sparked a political scandal.
- Justice Minister Eva Decroix plans to release a detailed case timeline.
The National Centre for Combating Organised Crime confirmed it carried out raids on Thursday, seizing assets as part of an investigation now centered on suspected money laundering and drug trafficking.
The case, overseen by the High Public Prosecutor’s Office in Olomouc, was recently separated from a broader probe disclosed in May.
Czech Bitcoin Donor Jirikovsky Detained in Breclav
Jirikovsky, identified by local media as the donor of 468 bitcoin to the justice ministry, was detained at a property in Breclav, Echo24 reported.
The cryptocurrency was transferred earlier this year and accepted by then-Justice Minister Pavel Blazek without verifying its origins.
Blazek resigned in May after revelations that the funds came from Jirikovsky, a convicted darknet operator previously imprisoned for drug trafficking.
A July audit ordered by Blazek’s successor, Eva Decroix, concluded the ministry should never have accepted the donation due to the high risk it represented proceeds of crime.
The scandal has shaken the Czech political landscape. In June, Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s center-right coalition narrowly survived a no-confidence vote triggered by the controversy, with 98 lawmakers voting to keep the government against 94 calling for its removal.
Opposition party ANO has since pushed for further resignations, including Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura.
Prosecutors said Thursday’s raids were aimed at “clarifying the case” and securing persons and property, declining to provide more details to protect the investigation’s integrity.
Decroix, who took over as justice minister in May, has pledged to publish an expanded case timeline this week containing more than 8,000 entries, as public scrutiny intensifies ahead of October’s parliamentary elections.
Crypto Hacks, Scams Cost Investors $2.2B in H1 2025: CertiK
Crypto investors lost over $2.2 billion to hacks, scams, and breaches in the first half of 2025, driven largely by wallet compromises and phishing attacks, according to CertiK’s latest security report.
Wallet breaches alone caused $1.7 billion in losses across just 34 incidents, while phishing scams accounted for over $410 million across 132 attacks.
Two major incidents, including Bybit’s $1.5 billion hack in February and Cetus Protocol’s $225 million exploit in May, skewed the year’s losses upward, together accounting for nearly $1.78 billion.
Without these, losses align more closely with previous years at around $690 million.
Ethereum remained the primary target, suffering over $1.6 billion in losses across 175 events.
The report also pointed to rising sophistication of phishing schemes and ongoing risks from social engineering, urging crypto users to verify links, avoid suspicious sites, and use hardware wallets.
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