Penta Investments

Profile

Penta Investments - Jaroslav Haščák

Headquarters

Slovakia

Industry

Banking, Finance & Services

Summary

Penta Investments, a private-equity group in central Europe, invests in banks, frozen foods, health care businesses, real estate and newspapers. Founded in 1994, the fund employed Alojz Lorenc, the last head of the Czechoslovak Secret Police in the Communist era. In December 2020, Jaroslav Haščák, a co-founder of Penta and the second-richest man in Slovakia, was arrested and charged with attempting to illegally obtain a set of classified wire-taps, code-named Gorilla, that were made by the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS), that allegedly implicated him in a major corruption scandal.

Gorilla was a set of secret recordings made by the SIS at an apartment in Bratislava, Slovakia, that was shared by Haščák and Zoltán Varga, an ex-police officer. On the tapes several business people, including Haščák, were allegedly heard discussing privatization of government companies and bribes with politicians like Robert Fico and Jirko Malchárek, who have served as prime minister and deputy prime minister of Slovakia respectively. The publication of the alleged content of the tapes sparked huge protests across the country in 2012.

Products

Investments and developing projects in healthcare, financial services, retail, manufacturing, real estate and media

Violations

Violation data on Penta Investments is still being gathered at this time.

violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org

Information in this section is drawn from the Violation Tracker database produced by the Corporate Research Project of Good Jobs First in Washington DC. It is the most comprehensive source of data on business violations of laws and regulations in the United States. For specific examples of misconduct, please click on the links.

Stories

Article Archive

Slovakia: Haščák of Penta detained and accused

Published by

Slovak Spectator

| By

Reuters

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

UPDATED: 2. DEC 2020, AT 11:39

Haščák of Penta detained and accused

Dozens of police officers raided Digital Park, the headquarters of the financial group.

Czech Republic: Police Raid Penta Investments, Arrest Jaroslav Hascak

Published by

Prague Business Journal

| By

Matt Atlas

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Slovak police detained and accused Jaroslav Haščák, the co-owner of the Czech-Slovak financial group Penta Investments, of corruption and money laundering. Dozens of police officers also launched a large-scale raid in the afternoon at Penta’s headquarters in Bratislava.

Bribery, secret tapes, and the arrest of a powerful Slovak tycoon

Published by

VSquare

| By

Tomáš Madleňák, Lukáš Diko, The Investigative Center of Ján Kuciak

Thursday, December 3, 2020

On 1 December 2020 dozens of special police commandos wearing balaclavas and armed with submachine guns entered Bratislava’s Digital Park building, well known as the headquarters of Penta, an influential private-equity firm.

Photo Gallery

People At Home Have No More Bananas (money) For Gorillas (corrupted politicians). PHOTO William Murphy

Protests have taken place in Slovakia (and in Dublin) over a scandal sparked by an online document. PHOTO William Murphy

One of the posters used by the citizens in organizing the protests in the aftermath of the Gorilla scandal PHOTO Iswikinumber2

Videos & Podcasts

The Penta Story

Across the line: Which influential people paved the way for Haščák and Penta

CorpWatch Stories

New CorpWatch Guide to Healthcare Privatization in Europe

Paula Reisdorf | CorpWatch | October 24, 2022

The situation is even worse in Slovakia where Penta Investments operates 13 clinics and 17 hospitals in 24 cities of Slovakia, making them the largest private healthcare provider in the country. But Penta does more than just provide health services: They also own Dôvera, one of the three health insurance companies in the country, as well as Dr. Max, a network of pharmacies.

Penta in Slovakia: From Real Estate to Private Clinics

Adriana Homolova | European Network of Corporate Observatories | October 14, 2021

Jaroslav Haščák, one of the five founding partners of Penta, was detained by the Slovak National Criminal police and charged with bribery and money laundering.

Activism

Recent & Ongoing Campaigns

Slovak police arrest prominent businessman Hascak, co-owner of Penta

Reuters | December 1, 2020

Slovak police arrested and charged prominent businessman Jaroslav Hascak on Tuesday after raiding his company Penta's offices in Bratislava, charges that Penta called "groundless and inappropriate."

Slovaks protest graft ahead of March polls

Reuters | February 3, 2013

The leaked graft transcripts detail meetings in a Bratislava flat going back to 2005 and 2006 involved a number of leading politicians, senior officials and executives from the private equity group Penta.

Major Investigations

& Lawsuits

Slovak court keeps billionaire in custody over graft case

Reuters | December 4, 2020

A Slovak court on Friday ordered Slovakia’s second-richest man, Jaroslav Hascak, to remain in police custody following his arrest on Tuesday, the most high-profile detention since an anti-graft party took power this year.

Czech daily Mladá fronta Dnes (MfD): Head of ŠtB Lorenc works for the financial predator - Penta

SME | October 9, 2003

One of the strongest men of the communist regime, the former head of the State Security (ŠtB) Alojz Lorenc works for the predatory Czech-Slovak financial group Penta.

Financials

Corporate Headquarters

Digital Park II, Einsteinova 25, 851 01 Petržalka, Slovakia

Most Recent Gross Revenue

Private Limited Company | source

Most Recent Net Revenue

Private Limited Company | source

Subsidiaries

In Poland:

Zabka
Alpha Medical
Empik
EMC Instytut Medyczny – largest network of hospitals and clinics

Subsidy Tracker

Subsidy Tracker is a project of Good Jobs First in Washington DC. It is the most comprehensive source of data on state and federal subsidies in the United States. For more details, click on the links.

Subsidy Tracker homepage

Tax Havens

& Evasion

Are Polish firms discriminated against? Book of shame by the Ministry of Finances published

Katarzyna Witawicka | Radio Zet Business | November 4, 2021

The Polish government is being accused of turning a blind eye to tax evasion of foreign companies, discriminating against Polish ones. The article lists foreign companies that avoid paying taxes in Poland. Empik, which belongs to Penta, allegedly did not pay any taxes in 2020 in Poland.

Procurement

Procurement data for Penta Investments is still being gathered at this time.

Profile

Website

Violations

Stories

Slovakia: Haščák of Penta detained and accused

Czech Republic: Police Raid Penta Investments, Arrest Jaroslav Hascak

Bribery, secret tapes, and the arrest of a powerful Slovak tycoon

People At Home Have No More Bananas (money) For Gorillas (corrupted politicians). PHOTO William Murphy

Protests have taken place in Slovakia (and in Dublin) over a scandal sparked by an online document. PHOTO William Murphy

One of the posters used by the citizens in organizing the protests in the aftermath of the Gorilla scandal PHOTO Iswikinumber2

CorpWatch Stories

New CorpWatch Guide to Healthcare Privatization in Europe

Penta in Slovakia: From Real Estate to Private Clinics

Activism

Slovak police arrest prominent businessman Hascak, co-owner of Penta

Slovaks protest graft ahead of March polls

& Lawsuits

Slovak court keeps billionaire in custody over graft case

Czech daily Mladá fronta Dnes (MfD): Head of ŠtB Lorenc works for the financial predator - Penta

Financials

& Evasion

Are Polish firms discriminated against? Book of shame by the Ministry of Finances published

Procurement