Viktor Kožený

Who is Viktor Kožený?

Viktor Kožený is a Czech-born fugitive financier. He graduated from Harvard in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in economics. Viktor Kožený is officially an Irish citizen imprisoned in the Bahamas in 2005 but released in 2007. He currently lives in a gated community in the Bahamas. Efforts to bring him to justice stem from both the Czech Republic and the USA. An international warrant has been issued for Kožený, who in the early '90s ran one of the great scams of the post-Communist era. By the media he is often called "the pirate of Prague".

He was imprisoned after a US extradition request but that was thrown out on appeal in October 2007. However the US said they will press the case.

In February 2008 a court case against him and his partner Boris Vostrý has started at Prague Municipal Court. The judge said he expects the trial to last about six months. Kožený has remained in the Bahamas and has not been attending the trial. He asked the prosecution to publish the charges on the Internet, which the state prosecutor has refused to do.