Former Czech PM Andrej Babiš goes on trial in $2m EU subsidy fraud case
by Robert Tait in Prague from on (#63HD9)
Case involves farm that allegedly received funds after ownership was transferred to Babi family members
The trial has opened of the Czech Republic's former prime minister Andrej Babi on charges of subsidy fraud, in a case that could profoundly affect the politics of the central European country.
Babi, a billionaire tycoon, is accused of illicitly obtaining 2m (1.7m) in EU small business funds for the development of Stork's Nest, a hotel and conference centre in the Bohemian countryside, when it was ineligible for such financial aid because it was part of his multi-industry Agrofert business empire, which controls vast tracts of the Czech economy.
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