Minister of this country resigned over $45 million ‘Bitcoin gift from drug dealer'
Czech Republic's justice minister Pavel Blazek on Friday stepped down amid growing public and political pressure over his ministry's handling of a controversial Bitcoin donation linked to a convicted criminal.
The scandal erupted after local media reported that the ministry had accepted a 'cryptocurrency gift' from a convicted drug dealer, later selling the Bitcoin for around 1 billion koruna (approximately $45 million), according to a Bloomberg report.
State prosecutors then launched an investigation into the matter.
Although Blazek denied any wrongdoing, he announced his resignation on social media platform X, stating that he was unaware of any illegal activity but did not want to tarnish the government's image.
"I don't want to damage the reputation of the government, nor the governing coalition," he wrote.
Earlier, Czech Republic's justice minister Pavel Blazek defended the transaction, arguing there was no evidence that the cryptocurrency had criminal origins. Nonetheless, the revelation sparked a political storm, especially with national elections looming in October.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala, whose coalition is currently lagging behind in the polls, acknowledged Pavel Blazek's intentions and described the resignation as a 'responsible' act.
'I'm convinced Minister Blazek acted in good faith,' Fiala said, while noting the move was necessary to protect the integrity of the government.
Elections are due in October in Czech Republic, where its most popular political party has pledged to seek full state ownership in power producer CEZ AS to boost energy security if it returns to government.
The ANO group, led by billionaire former Prime Minister Andrej Babis, is weighing three different paths to raise the government's ownership to 100 per cent from 70 per cent, the party's deputy leader Karel Havlicek said in an interview, according to Bloomberg.
The buyout of minority stakes in the biggest traded generator in eastern Europe, with a market value of about $29 billion, would be funded by CEZ itself, he said.
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Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Bengaluru's ride-hailing apps replace ‘advance tip' with ‘voluntary' tag after minister Pralhad Joshi's criticism
1 2 Bengaluru: Your ride wasn't booked, but the aggregator app already wanted a tip? Well, things just got slightly more polite. Days after Union minister Pralhad Joshi asked Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to investigate why ride-hailing apps were nudging users for tips before the ride even began, a new word has quietly rolled into the app interface: 'Voluntary tip'. Platforms like Namma Yatri and Ola seem to have heard the buzz and the backlash. Now, when users are booking a ride, the advance tip option comes with a little label that spells out its nature loud and clear: Voluntary. Riders can skip the tip, and the app won't hold their ride. Uber, on the other hand, has not introduced a "voluntary" label, but appears to have reduced the frequency with which the advance tip prompt appears during the booking process. While the option remains part of the app, it is now shown less prominently, possibly as a way to soften the user experience without making direct changes to the interface. Many users said the change does make a difference. Priya Srisha, 34, a resident of Indiranagar, said, "I use ride-hailing apps almost every day to commute to work. A few weeks ago, I noticed the app was asking for a tip before the ride even started. It felt odd; how do I know if the service deserves a tip before the driver has even shown up? But now, after the update, there's a small label next to the tip box that says 'voluntary'. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trade Bitcoin & Ethereum – No Wallet Needed! IC Markets Start Now Undo That word makes a big difference. I no longer feel guilty for skipping it. Before this, it almost felt like tipping was part of the fare." Suresh R, 42, a resident of Bellandur, said, "I use both Ola and Uber. Ola now makes it clearer that tip is optional, calling it voluntary. Earlier, I thought not tipping might affect my chances of getting a good driver or lead to cancellation, especially during peak hours. But now, the app continues to the next screen even if I don't add a tip. Uber seems to have stopped showing the advance tip as often; it used to pop up almost every time, now it's more scattered. It's a welcome change, honestly. Tipping should be based on the ride experience, not a pre-condition." Uber was unavailable for comments on the matter. Tip in advance unethical, exploitative: Minister Prahalad Joshi posted on X, saying, "The practice of 'Advance Tip' is deeply concerning. Forcing or nudging users to pay a tip in advance, for faster service is unethical and exploitative. Such actions fall under unfair trade practices. Tip is given as a token of appreciation not as a matter of right, after the service. Taking cognisance of this, I had asked CCPA to look into it and today CCPA has issued a notice to Uber in this regard, seeking explanation from the platform. Fairness, transparency and accountability must be upheld in all customer interactions." As an update to this issue, he tweeted, "CCPA is investigating other apps, they will also be served notice if they are found indulging in such practices."
Mint
4 hours ago
- Mint
Builder.ai Faked Business With Indian Firm VerSe to Inflate Sales, Sources Say
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Umang Bedi, a VerSe co-founder, said it was 'absolutely baseless and false' that his company would have recorded expenses or billed services that it didn't receive or provide. 'We're not the kind of company that is in the business of inflating revenues,' he said in an interview. The company said that the services bought and sold to have been verified by reputable external organizations. Accusations of round tripping are 'defamatory and irresponsible,' and it's incorrect to say that the companies routinely billed each other for roughly the same amount, VerSe said. A representative for declined to comment. once valued at about $1.5 billion, is the most high-profile AI startup to collapse since ChatGPT's launch started a global investment frenzy. Its downfall shows the risks inherent in the rush to back AI startups as investors seek to replicate the success of industry heavyweights such as OpenAI and Anthropic. The London-based startup, which pitched its tech as a way to make apps with little or no coding, said earlier in May it planned to file for bankruptcy after a major creditor seized most of its reported earlier that overstated its projected 2024 sales to creditors by 300%, which contributed to the lenders' decision to seize the company's funds. Bloomberg also reported that US prosecutors have demanded that the company hand over financial statements, accounting policies and a list of its customers as part of a subpoena. has declined to comment on the subpoena. The company has acknowledged it's found discrepancies in its historical sales but has declined to comment on the scope of the alleged overstatement. collected close to $60 million in revenue from VerSe in the four-year period for services such as application development, according to people with knowledge of the situation. 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'We see creating an entirely new category that empowers everyone to be a developer,' Jon Tinter, a Microsoft corporate vice president, said at the time. A representative for Insight Partners didn't respond to requests for comment. Spokespeople for Microsoft and QIA, which also invested in VerSe, declined to comment. In February, founder Sachin Dev Duggal stepped down as chief executive officer, although he remained on the board and retained his title as 'Chief Wizard' at the nine-year-old company. He was replaced as CEO by Manpreet Ratia, an investor with Jungle Ventures, a backer based in Singapore. Shortly after joining, Ratia said he planned to strengthen the company's governance and policies. Three months after taking the role, he told employees the company planned to shut down. 'With no viable alternatives, the Board has made the extremely difficult decision to enter into insolvency,' he wrote in an internal email reviewed by Bloomberg. A representative for Duggal declined to comment. VerSe, which is based in Bengaluru, is one of the largest consumer tech newcomers in India. VerSe has said that its news aggregation app, Dailyhunt, has more than 350 million monthly users, and it released a video app, called Josh, right after the Indian government banned TikTok. In 2022, VerSe raised $805 million from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and other investors in a round that gave the startup a $5 billion valuation. Goldman Sachs and Google had invested in VerSe earlier. Representatives for the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Goldman declined to comment. Google didn't respond to requests for comment. In VerSe's financial report for the year ending in March 2024, its auditor Deloitte wrote in its opinion that the startup lacked 'appropriate internal controls' over several aspects of its business, including its information technology, advertising revenue and relationship with suppliers. Those flaws 'could potentially result in material misstatement' of the company's accounts, the auditor wrote in the report, which was reviewed by Bloomberg. Deloitte did sign off on the startup's accounts for the year as 'true and fair.' Bedi described the issues the auditor flagged as common 'process control' difficulties that the company was working through and said that Deloitte found no material misstatements. The Deloitte opinion was previously reported by the Indian publication Mint. The newspaper also reported in April that VerSe's chief financial officer had resigned ahead of the startup's expected initial public offering. Bedi said the CFO, Sandip Basu, left for health reasons. He said the company currently has 'very little debt' and plans to break even by the second half of 2025. He said the company is speaking to potential advisers about an IPO, but doesn't have firm plans. Basu couldn't immediately be reached for comment. founder Duggal and Bedi have cooperated publicly and Duggal has posted on social media with Bedi. In 2023, Duggal added a photo on his verified Instagram account showing him and Bedi standing together, sporting light colored blazers, in front of 10 Downing Street, the official residence and office of the British Prime Minister. 'With my main man @ at @10downingstreet for #londontechweek,' Duggal wrote, tagging Bedi's verified account. In a later LinkedIn post, Duggal thanked Bedi for contributing to a gathering in Singapore as one of the 'incredible speakers from the extended family.' Bedi said he participated in the event via Zoom and did not travel to Singapore. He said he invested about $10,000 in Duggal's company, which was previously known as around 2017. But Bedi said he has only met Duggal 'two or three' times, noting that the London meeting was part of a broader group of tech executives and entrepreneurs. 'I don't have a very close interpersonal relationship,' Bedi said. 'I have a professional business working relationship.' --With assistance from Sankalp Phartiyal. (Updates with additional comments from VerSe in third and 16th paragraphs) More stories like this are available on
Indian Express
4 hours ago
- Indian Express
Operation Sindoor: Three weeks later, CDS sheds new light on operations during hostilities
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan's interviews to news agencies Reuters and Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore shed new light on combat operations during Operation Sindoor, going beyond the media briefings by the Indian Armed Forces during the hostilities. First, General Chauhan's remark about initial losses in the air, without going into details or giving a count of aircraft lost, is the first official admission of fighter jets being downed in combat operations. Asked by Bloomberg if the Pakistani claim of downing six Indian jets was correct, the CDS said: 'Absolutely incorrect.' The remarks came exactly three weeks after India and Pakistan agreed on cessation of military strikes against each other. To be clear, at no point, during and after the hostilities, did the IAF ever deny losing any aircraft. On May 11, a day after the two militaries reached a truce, Air Marshal A K Bharti, Director of Air Operations, responding to a question at a media briefing, said he would not like to comment on whether India lost any aircraft and cited the prevailing combat situation. He said losses were part of any combat, and the Indian military had achieved all its selected objectives and all IAF pilots were back home. Air Marshal Bharti said the Pakistan Air Force lost 'a few' aircraft, apart from suffering massive damage to assets and air bases during retaliatory high-precision strikes by Indian Armed Forces during the operation. General Chauhan, while acknowledging Indian losses in the air, underlined that what was more important was why these losses (of aircraft) occurred, and what India did after that. He spoke of how 'we rectified tactics and then went back… in large numbers' to 'hit air bases deep inside Pakistan, penetrated all their air defences with impunity, carried out precision strikes'. He told Reuters that the IAF 'flew all types of aircraft with all types of ordnances on the 10th' of May, the day India struck air bases deep inside Pakistan, including the Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi. He spoke on similar lines to Bloomberg: 'What is important is not the jet being down, but why they were being (downed),' General Chauhan said. 'The good part is that we were able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it and then implement it again after two days… flew all our jets again, targeting at long range,' he said. Significantly, the CDS also told Reuters that although Pakistan is closely allied with China, there was no sign of any actual help from Beijing during the conflict. 'While this was unfolding from (April) 22nd onwards, we didn't find any unusual activity in the operational or tactical depth of our northern borders, and things were generally all right,' he said.
