A court in Prague has convicted former Czech transport minister Vit Barta of bribery and handed him an 18-month suspended prison sentence with probation.
"Vit Barta committed the crime of bribery," Judge Jan Sott said reading the verdict, before placing Barta on 30 months of probation for bribing his fellow party members.
An influential entrepreneur and founder of a large security agency, Barta is widely seen as the man pulling the strings in the centrist Public Affairs party, a junior partner in the country's governing coalition.
He was found to have provided an interest-free loan to two members of his party in March 2011 in order to secure their loyalty.
The deal came to light when one of the lawmakers, Jaroslav Skarka, tried to use the fact that Barta gave him an interest-free loan against him amid a rebellion within the party.
Skarka was convicted of fraud on Friday and sentenced to three years in prison.
The Public Affairs party, which currently has 21 seats in the 200-member parliament, was hit hard by the ensuing scandal, with voter support falling well below the 5% minimum for entering parliament, according to polls.
The next parliamentary elections are scheduled for 2014.
