A European lawmaker is sentenced in a fraud case involving Czech populist leader Andrej Babiš

A Czech court on Monday found a former associate of populist Prime Minister Andrej Babiš guilty of fraud and gave him a three-year suspended prison sentence and a fine.

Babiš was also a defendant along with Jana Nagyová in the $2 million fraud case involving European Union subsidies, but could not be convicted because MPs in the lower house of Parliament rejected a motion to lift his immunity in March.

The populist billionaire began his third term as prime minister in December. He said the case was “clearly politically motivated.” The rejection of the motion means he can only be tried after his term ends in 2029.

Nagyová is now a member of the European Parliament, which has had its immunity lifted. The Prague Municipal Court also fined him 500,000 crowns, or kroner ($24,000).

The decision is not final and may be appealed.

The case centered around a farm known as the Stork’s Nest, which received an EU subsidy after its ownership was transferred from the Agrofert holding owned by Babiš to family members. Agrofert later regained ownership of the farm.

The subsidies were aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, which meant that Agrofert could not benefit from this support. The holding later returned the subsidy.

Babiš returned to power after the ANO (YES) movement won a landslide victory in October elections and formed a governing coalition with two smaller political groups, the anti-immigrant Party for Freedom and Direct Democracy and the right-wing Motorists.

The coalition’s agenda includes moving the country away from supporting Ukraine and rejecting some key EU policies.