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Czech Fraudster Radovan Krejcir Jailed For 35 Years In South Africa

By Anne Sewell
Published on: 22:24 PST, Feb 23, 2016

After spending two years in custody, Czech “mafia” boss Radovan Krejcir has finally been sentenced to 35 years in jail by a South African court.

Despite bomb threats to the court and repeated attempts to escape from prison, the self-styled “businessman” and underworld drug kingpin Krejcir is facing 35 years behind bars.

Krejcir was convicted of the kidnapping and attempted murder of a man in Johannesburg, where he poured boiling water over Bheki Lukhele’s head during a drug deal gone wrong in 2013. The victim’s brother, Doctor, recently gave testimony in court stating that the deal involved 25 kg (55 lbs) of crystal meth.

According to the Independent Online, Krejcir tried to delay proceedings saying a number of his defense witnesses could not be contacted, but the Czech drug kingpin’s attempts to stall proceedings failed, and the court trial went ahead as planned.

Prior to this, Radovan Krejcir was set to be sentenced on Monday, but the court had to be evacuated due to a bomb threat, but he has finally been sentenced to 25 years for drug dealing and 15 years for kidnapping, along with 15 years for attempted murder. Krejcir reportedly said after the hearing that he will be appealing his sentence.

Krejcir has been in the media quite a bit since his arrest back in 2013, as he tried to escape from the prison on a number of occasions. As reported on the Inquisitr former Paralympian Oscar Pistorius lost out on his anticipated parole at one stage due to his jail buddy’s attempts to escape.

He spent a lot of time with Oscar Pistorius, who shared the same prison, and was captured on video playing football with Pistorius in the Kgosi Mampuru Prison in Pretoria.

Krejcir also made international headlines back in July 2013 after he survived an elaborate assassination attempt. Reportedly, guns had been strategically placed behind a VW car number plate and were operated via remote control to shoot on his black Mercedes car. Fortunately for Radovan Krejcir, he survived the attack unscathed, as can be seen in the image below.

Radovan Krejcir
[Image AP Photo/Timothy Bernard]

A while back, The Inquisitr took us on a tour of the drug kingpin‘s multi million ZAR luxury home. While Radovan Krejcir was apparently very well off at one stage, he was forced to sell his luxurious home to cover his legal expenses in the recent trial.

While in the trial, Krejcir pleaded not guilty, he ended up leaving the court in shackles after his sentencing. Apparently this isn’t the end of his legal troubles, however, as he is still facing other criminal charges, including one murder charge, after a Lebanese national was reportedly found dead.

Krejcir isn’t alone, however, as also standing trial with Radovan Krejcir was another man, Desai Luphondo, who also faces a 35-year sentence in jail for the assault of the man during the drug deal gone wrong. It was also an embarrassing ordeal for certain police in South Africa, as four members of the Hawks have also received sentences of 15 years each following the court hearing.

As reported by the International Business Times, while Radovan Krejcir faced charges and sentencing in South Africa, he is also on the wanted list in his home country of the Czech Republic.

He was reportedly convicted in absentia in the Czech Republic back in 2014 on tax fraud charges. The Czech national has called South Africa his home since 2007 and applied for asylum in that country, saying he would be killed if he was forced to return home. Before that, Radovan Krejcir spent two years in exile in the Seychelles.

[Photo: Radovan Krejcir in 2013 – AP Photo/Themba Hadebe-File]

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