Word: czechs
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Viktor Kozeny ’87-’89, whose financial exploits in the Czech Republic earned him international notoriety as the “Pirate of Prague,” was indicted last Thursday on charges of stealing $182 million from the clients of an investment firm in New York...
...When the Czech government decided to sell shares in state-owned companies to the public, Kozeny had just come from the United States with a Harvard education and only $2,000, according to the Columbia Spectator...
...time considered the richest man in the Czech Republic, Kozeny reportedly made around $200 million in the early 1990s when the Czech government decided to sell shares in state-owned companies to the public. Under this plan, Czech citizens could purchase vouchers that could, in turn, be traded in for shares in these companies. Kozeny persuaded around 800,000 Czechs to invest their vouchers in his “Harvard” funds, by promising a 10-fold return on their investment...
...Kozeny then disappeared—with Czech citizens’ money—reappearing in the Bahamas, earning the infamous nickname of “Pirate of Prague,” according to the Columbia Spectator...
...Czech sculptor Kurt Gebauer found communism so oppressive that he withdrew to an isolated hilltop house near Prague and in 1973 declared it his own state - complete with its own anthem. "State Gebauer" became an "island of free expression" populated with whimsical figures of swimmers, gnomes and cows. And being a largely abstract concept, the sculptor's retreat escaped the attention of the authorities. Many unofficial artists working behind the Iron Curtain created private cocoons where they could work unhindered, though this meant their work was rarely seen. Now a new museum in Prague seeks to rescue them from obscurity...