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Like a house of cards? Šuška brothers' portfolio companies raise equity capital with billions in receivables

Like a house of cards? Šuška brothers' portfolio companies raise equity capital with billions in receivables
photo: Archive/Like a house of cards? Šuška brothers' portfolio companies raise equity capital with billions in receivables
01 / 12 / 2022

The Šuška brothers' business in the railway business is beginning to resemble a dog chasing its own tail. How else to explain the non-standard accounting operations committed not only by their parent company Rail Invest but also by other companies in the portfolio? The increase or decrease in share capital, coupled with a decline in the volume of orders, may indicate an unsatisfactory economic situation within the company but also criminal activity.

RAILTARGET has written about the problems in the business of companies belonging to the portfolio of Peter and Rudolf Šuška in the past. After the imposition of a lien by the Financial Office for CZK 145 million on Ostravské opravy a strojírny (OOS), other accounting steps were set in motion, which are probably just a consequence.

At the beginning of November last year, the share capital of Rail Invest a.s. was increased from CZK 2,000,000 to a new amount of CZK 7,542,180,000. It would not be so striking if the Šuškas had not used their receivables, which they had from their own companies, i.e., Ostravské opravny a strojírny, Traťová strojní společnost ad. 

There are only a few possibilities to explain this driving of a wedge by the Šuška brothers:

a) Rail Invest allegedly did not pay them part of the purchase price (2x CZK 1,940,090,000) when they transferred their business shares in Ostravské opravny a strojírny, s.r.o. to Rail Invest in 2008.

b) Rail Invest allegedly did not refund their non-capital bonus (2x CZK 1,000,000,000,- ), which they paid to the company in 2018, and in October last year, the Rail Invest Board of Directors decided to refund these cash bonuses. It is evident that the notes and the balance sheet of the 2018 financial statements contradict each other. The balance sheet shows an increase in equity, but in the notes, to the financial statements, the owners state that no contracts have been signed between the controlled person and the controlling person, nor have there been any transactions between them involving assets over 10% of the controlled person's equity.

c) Rail Invest allegedly failed to pay them the consideration under the contract (2x CZK 230,000,000) when it assigned its claim against Wagon Legios (their company Rail Invest is the sole shareholder) in October 2021.

d) They have set off their claim against Rail Invest (2x600.000.000,- CZK), which was allegedly assigned to them on 10.10.2021 by Financial Found, whose beneficial direct owners are Rudolf and Peter Šuška) (the subject claim of Financial Found against Rail Invest was dated 3.7.2019). In the 2019 financial statement data of Rail Invest, a corresponding increase (2x 600 000 000,-CZK) was recorded on the liabilities side, but no corresponding movement was recorded in the financial statements of Financial Found!

Divide and plan! 

Thus, another company Financial Found enters the box move plan. The share capital of this company was increased from CZK 2,000,000 to a new amount of CZK 1,762,000,000, as shown by the entry in the Commercial Register of 5 November 2021. The claims of Rudolf Šuška and Peter Šuška on their company's Financial Found were set off against the full value of the newly subscribed shares. As the outcome, the company Financial Found allegedly did not pay them part of the purchase price (2x 80.000.000,- CZK), when they transferred 2x 910.000.000 pieces of bonds with a nominal value of 1,- CZK, which were issued by the Company, ISIN: CZ0003505901, to it on 1.10.2019, or Financial Found allegedly did not pay them the consideration according to the contract (2x 800.000.000,- CZK), when they transferred 2x 910.000.000 pieces of bonds with a nominal value of 1,- CZK to it on 2.7.2019. Ostravské opravny a strojírny, s.r.o. (the sole shareholder is their company Rail Invest ) arising from the contract of 12.6.2019 with OOS, and based on which they transferred to OOS 2x 800.000.000 pieces of bonds issued by OOS as the issuer, ISIN: CZ000350591981, for their nominal value of CZK 1,-.  

In the data of the 2019 financial statements of Financial Found on the receivables side, there is no corresponding increase (2x 800,000,000,- CZK) and, finally, no corresponding movement in the financial statements of Ostravské opravny a strojírny, s.r.o. was recorded.

From the facts described above, it follows that if the Šuškas manipulated the bonds with a nominal value of CZK 3.42 billion in this way, they might be admitting that the police's initial suspicions were correct, or that nobody ever bought the bonds and they remained in their possession all along. Yet they claimed a corporate tax deduction for their alleged repayment. A supervisory complaint will be filed with the superior prosecutor's office in this matter after it has been verified that there was indeed a delay on the part of the police.

Change of registered office

Interestingly, the company moved its registered office from Ostrava to Prague in December 2020, which is connected with the change of the registry court. Currently, the company is based in Košíry, Prague, and the property at that address, according to public information, belongs to Radhostone Monasterio Management SE, owned by Aladár Štefunko from Trnava. Perhaps not surprisingly, the small terraced house currently houses nine other companies besides the owner's company, eight of which are controlled by the Šuško brothers. They established four of their companies here in late 2020 and relocated another four from Ostrava.

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