Prague - After more than six years of police investigation, the first track of one of the culprits that have commited what is believed to be the biggest cash robbery in the country has appeared.

Tomáš Půta is believed to be the man behind the so called "robbery of the century" which took place in September 2002 in Evropská street in Prague 6. Several gunmen attacked an armored van owned by security company Group 4 Securitas which was carrying Citibank cash. The amount of cash robbed from the security van was CZK 153 million.

Tomáš Půta is not a novice in the criminal world. He has been investigated and charged for criminal activity commited by so called Berdych Gang. Former policemen were among the gang members.

Půta has been recently sentenced to 10 years in jail but he appealed against the verdict. Prague High Court is to issue the final decision soon. 

His lawyer Jaroslav Ortman confirmed the fact that Půta is accused of complicity in the security van robbery.

Law hindrance and smoking cigars

Not long ago Půta has been extradited from Ireland but for a different crime. For that reason police cannot charge Půta with the armed robbery of the security van.

"A person extradited for a certain crime has to be tried for the same crime he was extradited for and no other," said Otrman who also denied Půta's involvement in the van robbery.

"Why would he work as a bricklayer in Ireland if he had all that money? He would have smoked cigars elsewhere," says Otrman for Aktuálně.cz.

After long years this is the first track leading to a concrete person related to the van robbery that police has got. However, they remain silent about it.

And what exactly happened on September 16, 2002? Masked gunmen attacked an armoured security van, pointing guns at the driver and security personnel and showing them a sheet of paper reading "We have a bomb on us, get out!". The security staff gave in and the robbers ran away in the van, getting away with the equivalent of more than CZK 150 million.