{"id":35344,"date":"2021-10-06T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ostro.si\/?p=35344"},"modified":"2026-06-09T12:57:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T10:57:45","slug":"czech-prime-minister-secretly-bought-lavish-french-riviera-estate-using-offshore-companies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ostro.si\/en\/stories\/pandora-papers\/czech-prime-minister-secretly-bought-lavish-french-riviera-estate-using-offshore-companies\/","title":{"rendered":"Czech Prime Minister secretly bought lavish French Riviera estate using offshore companies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u201cTrump said, \u2018Make America great again.\u2019 That\u2019s what I say, too. Let\u2019s make the Czech Republic strong again,\u201d Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis addressed voters late last year, sporting a red baseball cap with the slogan \u201cStrong Czechia\u201d printed in white. This week a general election that next week will decide his future as a politician. <\/p>\n

Known as a populist who rails against elites and the establishment, the billionaire politician has advertised himself as a business manager eager to fix the country\u2019s economy, and to increase government transparency and tax revenues. But leaked confidential documents show that the self-styled man of the people has been involved in the kind of sleight-of-hand financial dealings that he accuses other members of the elites of engaging in. <\/p>\n

Records obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists <\/a>reveal that Babis moved $22 million through offshore companies to buy a lavish estate on the French Riviera in 2009 while keeping his ownership secret.<\/p>\n

The five-bedroom Chateau Bigaud, with its 9.4 acres, is nestled between medieval ruins and lush forests. It is a hidden gem of Mougins, the hilltop village where Picasso spent the last 12 years of his life. As of January, public records showed<\/a> that the chateau belonged to a subsidiary of one of the Czech companies indirectly owned by Babis. <\/p>\n

At the time Babis acquired the property, the Czech press was beginning to report that his giant conglomerate was the secret owner of a luxury resort south of Prague that may have improperly obtained millions of dollars in European Union subsidies intended for small businesses. EU authorities would later find \u201cirregularities\u201d in the way Babis\u2019 company had obtained the funds. <\/p>\n

Babis\u2019 ownership of the French chateau and the offshore transactions that obscured his involvement haven\u2019t been disclosed previously. There is no evidence that the chateau\u2019s purchase is linked to the subsidy. <\/p>\n

But the purchase of Chateau Bigaud stands in sharp contrast to Babis\u2019 carefully cultivated image as the prime minister who led a crackdown on tax avoidance as part of an effort to restore the country to fiscal health. It also shows how the offshore system can help even the most prominent public officials escape public scrutiny. <\/p>\n

Experts interviewed by ICIJ said the offshore arrangement used by Babis could have reduced his tax bill while hiding his ownership of the property from the public.<\/p>\n

Asset declaration forms obtained by Investigace.cz<\/a>, ICIJ\u2019s Czech partner, show that neither the chateau property nor the companies involved in its ownership appear in documents that Babis has filed, as required by Czech law, since entering politics.<\/p>\n

Economists have estimated that the Czech Republic loses more than 7% of prospective state revenue to tax evasion, with about $5 billion lost each year to the use of tax havens by Czech corporations and the country\u2019s ultrarich.<\/p>\n

Petr Jansky, an economist and tax-avoidance expert at Charles University in Prague, said that public officials should lead by example. \u201cIt\u2019s not a level playing field when all the citizens are required to pay taxes and abide by financial transparency rules, and there\u2019s people who can opt out,\u201d Jansky said. <\/p>\n

The Czech prime minister didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment, that were sent by ICIJ and three of its partners. Babis\u2019 office then revoked the press accreditation of the three of ICIJ partners, Investigace.cz, Le Monde and the German broadcaster NDR to a campaign event on Wednesday. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n