The trial of the well-known MMA fighter Mamed Ch. and a dozen or so other persons, accused of, among other things, receiving stolen cars and introducing counterfeit banknotes, should take place in the court in Rybnik – said the Regional Court in Tarnowskie Góry, which originally received the indictment.
In response to questions from the Polish Press Agency, the vice-president of the Regional Court in Tarnowskie Góry, Joanna Grądziel, wrote on Thursday that the decision to transfer the case to the Regional Court in Rybnik was issued on 22 September.
“Once the order becomes final, the files will immediately be transferred to the Regional Court in Rybnik,” the judge added.
At the end of July this year, the National Prosecutor’s Office announced that an indictment had been filed against Mamed Ch. and 17 other persons, who were accused of committing 140 acts. Prosecutor accused the defendants of, inter alia, circulating counterfeit euro banknotes in Slovakia and receiving stolen cars, including luxury cars, originating from crimes committed outside Poland – investigators said. The defendants will also answer for fraud, misappropriation of property, falsifying documents and making false statements.
Mamed Ch., 41, was arrested in this case in June 2019. The prosecution requested his arrest, but the court did not grant the request. The sportsman will answer for fencing, solicitation of the destruction of property, violation of bodily integrity of police officers and possession of a weapon without a permit. According to the information provided by the PO, the acts accused are punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.
The proceedings were originally initiated in the Slovak Republic in June 2017 and were supervised by the District Prosecutor in Cadca. In December 2017, the investigation was also opened by the Polish prosecutor’s office and it took over the criminal prosecution of a Polish citizen, Miłosz P., arrested for committing crimes against Slovak citizens. In March 2018, the case was taken over by the Silesian Prosecutor’s Office.
During the investigation, it was established that the main suspect is Jakub Ś., in whose car and place of residence a search revealed a considerable amount of counterfeit money.
“In addition to putting counterfeit euro banknotes into circulation, he was also involved in brokering the trade in stolen and misappropriated cars committed, among others, in the Czech Republic. The purchasers of the vehicles were people from all over the country,” Prosecutor’s Office stated.
Law enforcement authorities recovered 8 stolen cars worth approx. PLN 1.2 million.
In total, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, 24 persons were charged in connection with the case, some of whom admitted the crimes they were accused of and applied for sentences without a trial.