[5] He was acquitted by a first-degree court in a separate high-profile case related to the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova,[5] a crime which triggered a significant political crisis in Slovakia.

TV Markíza, one of the first private television channels in Slovakia, was founded by Pavol Rusko and Sylvia Volzová in partnership with CME Media Enterprises B.V. in 1996.

[6] Rusko entered into an agreement with Espé štúdio, a company owned by Siloš Pohanka, to pay 3 million DEM in exchange for help getting a broadcasting license for Markíza.

[8] The move sparked public protests, coming only 10 days before parliamentary elections; at that time TV Markíza was the main news outlet opposing the government of Vladimír Mečiar, and the attempted takeover was seen as an attack on press freedom.

In a 2006 interview with aktualne.sk (not to be confused with aktuality.sk) Kočner said the security firm involved in the takeover of Markíza belonged to Peter Čongrády, a local mafia boss.

[2] In June 2016 Kočner's company "Správa a inkaso zmeniek" initiated court proceedings against Rusko and Markíza to collect money owed to him under four promissory notes amounting to around €69 million.

[12][13] Rusko acknowledged Kočner's claim in court and declared that the promissory notes were intended to resolve the ownership dispute with Gamatex.

[15] In June 2018, Kočner was detained by the Slovak authorities in the case of the promissory notes forgery together with Pavol Rusko, as well as for various tax-related crimes.

[5] Kočner's business practices were a prominent topic of articles by Ján Kuciak,[17] an investigative journalist from Aktuality.sk, who was murdered in February 2018 along with his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová.