BRATISLAVA, February 21, (WEBNOVINY) – The Office for Fight against Corruption has charged Jaromir Ruda, president of the Slovak Deaflympic Committee, with an 11-million euro fraud, the Police Presidium spokeswoman Andrea Dobiasova informed. According to the police, Ruda fraudulently borrowed ten million euro from at least four companies for financing the 17th Winter Deaflympic Games in the High Tatras. He neither returned the money, nor provided documentation on its use. He was detained on Saturday evening at the border crossing in Rusovce as crime suspect.
Ruda also obtained at least one million euro from the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf and did not use them for the purposes declared. How he used this money shall be further investigated. Ruda could be sentenced to ten to fifteen years.
Since March 2010, Ruda, as the president of the Slovak Deaflympic Committee, misled representatives of at least four private companies, with which he signed contracts on cooperation in organization of the 17th Winter Deaflympic Games in the High Tatras. The companies took part in reconstruction of ice- hockey stadiums in Poprad and Kezmarok. Based on these contracts, both towns made their stadiums available for reconstruction, as they should have become the venue of the announced Deaflympics.
Private companies lent Ruda at least 10 million euro. He declared that the funds, invested into reconstruction, will be repaid. As a guarantee, he presented a half-million fictitious bank guarantee issued by Bank of Columbia. The funds were not used for paying invoices for the works at the stadiums as promised.
In 2010, Ruda also fraudulently obtained money from the member associations of the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf. He told the associations’ representatives that their accommodation and other expenditures will cost less, in the case that they pay for them to the Slovak Deaflympic Committee and not directly to the accommodation facilities. They sent him at least one million euro, which Ruda did not use for the purposes declared.
SITA