(Updated May 16, 2008) Foreign Affairs Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has hired a top international detective agency to investigate how Christian Democratic leader Jiří Čunek earned 3 million Kc during his term as mayor of Vsetín, Hospodářské noviny wrote Friday.

Čunek was asked to leave his post as regional development minister after police reopened their investigation into bribery allegations from the time when he was mayor.

In addition, the media discovered he had been taking welfare contributions, putting millions of crowns in the bank.

Čunek returned to the Cabinet in April, however, when his case was closed for lack of evidence.

Schwarzenberg previously vowed to leave politics if Čunek returned to the Cabinet. In April, he agreed to stay on, provided that he would be allowed to carry out an audit of Čunek’s finances.

Čunek agreed to the terms, and Schwarzenberg hired Kroll, one of the world’s top detective agencies, to do the audit. The company has branches in 65 countries and investigations of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Czech financier Viktor Kožený under its belt.

Schwarzenberg says he will still leave the government if the detective agency fails to find an above-board source to explain Čunek’s dealings.