Police say new details have emerged that implicate Jaroslav Starka, the owner of the Gambrinus liga soccer club FK Marila Příbram, in the 2002 kidnapping of Lambert Krejčíř, the father of fugitive financier Radovan Krejčíř, who is currently on the lam in the Seychelles Islands off the coast of East Africa.

Authorities say Starka organized the kidnapping because he owed Radovan Krejčíř money and wanted to blackmail him.

Starka was arrested and charged Nov. 14. Six of his associates were also taken into custody following raids that used special police units and helicopters in several locations across the country. They are: Vlastimil Spěvák, Jan Vicián, Miroslav Rus, Vladimir Milý, Martin Ondo and Lebanese-born Tarek Bechara (who was arrested a day later in Slovakia).

The men face 15 years in jail if convicted. Police have not charged the group with murder, though it has been long suspected that the unsolved case of Lambert Krejčíř's disappearance ended with his death. A body has never turned up. Police say it is likely that he died unexpectedly during the kidnapping.

"The arrests of Starka and the other men were necessary after new circumstances came to light," Interior Minister Ivan Langer said.

Authorities say an ongoing investigation into another shadowy figure — František Mrázek, who was gunned down in Prague in a mob hit in January — brought new details of Starka's relationship with Radovan Krejčíř to light.

Starka, Mrázek and Radovan Krejčíř were believed to run the country's underworld, though Starka had succeeded up till now at remaining largely "clean" in the eyes of law enforcement.

Radovan Krejčíř fled the country in the summer of 2005 amid attempted murder charges, and businessman Tomáš Pitr was sentenced to five years in prison for tax evasion in September.

Police say they have evidence that Starka had large debts with billionaire Radovan Krejčíř.

Prosecutor Martin Omelka told The Prague Post that an investigation is ongoing and that no details could be released.

"However," Omelka said, "we've got hold of evidence against these particular people."

Lambert Krejčíř was a known business associate of Vicián, Rus, Milý and Ondo who was with the group the day he disappeared, authorities say, citing mobile phone records they have obtained from the suspects.

In a Nov. 21 interview with the daily Mladá fronta Dnes from his prison cell in Ostrava, Starka maintained his innocence and said he always had a good working relationship with Radovan Krejčíř.

"The police have been handling the same information [about the Krejčíř case] for about four years, and they do not have any evidence against me," Starka said. The state attorney is only attempting to earn recognition that he is rooting out organized crime."

Starka owns a number of bars and restaurants in Příbram and Prague. He has been suspected of kidnapping once before: In 2003, the police detained him in connection with the attempted abduction of Giuseppe Roselli, a board member in the now defunct Union Banka.

The kidnappers released Roselli after only a few hours. Starka was likewise released by police, after questioning failed to provide enough evidence against him.

In May 2005, Starka himself was the target of a hired gunman, who fired 11 shots, striking him in the arm and chest. Starka recovered, and police have never solved that case.

Starka's arrest has brought turmoil to FK Marila Příbram, which is dependent on Starka's financial support.

Czech Football Association (ČMFS) Chairman Pavel Mokrý said the club could be thrown out of the country's top division if it doesn't pay its bills.