Urban legend

Czechs like to say that it doesn't matter if a story is true, as long as it's entertaining. So there's the one about Prague Mayor Pavel Bém showing up in June at the Kč 2m birthday party of his favorite lobbyist, Roman Janoušek, with a cake in the shape of Pankrác prison - and with a figurine of Janoušek smack-dab in the middle. Guests didn't quite know what to make of it. What could possibly land Janoušek in "sweatpants"? Then there's the story told quite eloquently by MFD about how Janoušek & Co. took over control of Navatyp construction company. They reportedly paid Kč 100m for an outfit worth at least half a bil. The most entertaining part of the story - which didn't make it into MFD - is that the heirs to Navatyp naively showed up in good faith at city hall to renew their municipal contracts, after Navatyp's well-connected founder died. "You can keep some of your hotels," they were reportedly told, "but we'll keep Navatyp in return."