Tatra lorry maker head complains about accusation in CzechRep

Ostrava, North Moravia/Brno, South Moravia, Aug 24 (CTK) - Tatra lorry maker chief Ronald Adams, accused of having offered a bribe to former defence minister Martin Bartak, has filed a complaint against the launch of criminal proceedings, his defence lawyer Jiri Matijasevic confirmed for CTK Friday.

"I can confirm that the complaint has been filed. There are both legal and formal shortcomings in the accusation," Matijasevic said.

He would not comment on the details of the complaint until the relevant state attorney is acquainted with it.

Adams, who is a U.S. citizen, categorically dismisses the accusation. He told journalists that it is a big lie.

Duncan Sellars, Tatra board president, said the firm considers the accusation unsubstantiated and the police procedure exceptionally suspicious.

Adams is one of the main witnesses in another corruption case related to Tatra, in which Bartak and armament dealer Michal Smrz have been accused.

Detectives invited Adams to provide an explanation. Instead of hearing him, they notified him of the accusation and kept him in a police cell.

Adams said the police behaved politely towards him and that he was alone in the cell.

Adams said he is not going to leave the Czech Republic because he still has a lot of work to do in the country.

The police have not announced any details about the criminal proceedings. The information about Adams's accusation was provided by Tatra.

According to it, Adams met Bartak, then deputy defence minister, at the IDET trade fair in 2009 and offered him a bribe for the promise that the ministry will in future place further military orders with Tatra.

The case is dealt with by the South Moravian financial crime police because the offer was allegedly made in Brno.

Tatra spokesman Vladimir Bystrov says Adams's accusation is based on claims by people who themselves are being prosecuted - Bartak and Smrz whom the anti-corruption police accused on November 30, 2011. One of them was accused of fraud on suspicion of having asked a leading employee of Tatra for five million dollars or another sum. He did so under the false pretext that he will use his influence and see to that business problems connected with an order for vehicles for the Czech military be removed.

The other person was accused of bribe taking. The police and state attorney think that this accused person also made use of his position and tried to influence the purchase of lorries.

He, too, allegedly asked a leading representative of Tatra for a bribe of five million dollars in exchange for solving certain complications.

"One of them failed to influence the order and 'wore borrowed plumes.' That is why he was accused of an attempted fraud," the head of the Regional State Attorney's Office in Ostrava said previously.

The other man succeeded in influencing the order and is therefore also prosecuted for bribe taking.