Petr Kraus (born 10 November 1966) is a Czech entrepreneur, manager, and founder of Newton group.

Career

In 1994, he and Antonín Koláček founded

Newton Financial Management Group Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Newton (film), ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian f ...

, a company that focused on trading on the financial markets and related advisory services. In the 1990s, he took part in the restructuring and management of numerous industrial enterprises and financial institutions, at home and abroad. The most important projects at the time included Všeobecný vzájemný penzijní fond (

General Mutual Pension Fund A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

, today

ING Pension Fund Ing, ING or ing may refer to: Art and media * '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film * i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group * The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' * "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 1992 ...

), the Otrokovice heat generation plant and the

Newton Media Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ...

. Kraus invested a significant amount of finances in educating and supporting university students. In 2003, he founded Newton College. In the framework of such efforts, he then initiated the establishment of the Erudikon Endowment Fund in 2005 to provide university access to those individuals whose life situation would otherwise make it impossible.

MUS case

He ended close cooperation with

MUS Mus or MUS may refer to: Abbreviations * MUS, the NATO country code for Mauritius * MUS, the IATA airport code for Minami Torishima Airport * MUS, abbreviation for the Centre for Modern Urban Studies on Campus The Hague, Leiden University, Neth ...

already in 2002; nevertheless, the Swiss courts found him guilty (verdict not final) from alleged money laundering. As a result of the Swiss charges and the re-opening of the MUS case by the Czech authorities in 2012, his current accounts were frozen and his assets, including the home in which he was living, were seized. Since the very beginning of the investigation, Kraus has argued that he, like the rest of the sentenced entrepreneurs and managers, saved

and thus it was absurd to criminalise their efforts. Even with regard to the fact that MUS is, thanks to the then successful restructuring, a stable and important company employing thousands of people. On Sunday, 20 October 2013, he proclaimed the following about MUS on the Czech Television programme Otázky Václava Moravce uestion Time with Václav Moravec "This is a dispute about the form that the transformation of the Czech economy took. It is a dispute that should not be relegated to the offices of prosecutors, but aired out in the public domain to allow discussion on whether the process should have taken place as it had."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraus, Petr 1966 births Czech businesspeople Living people