Kočner's business practices were a prominent topic of articles by Ján Kuciak, an investigative journalist from "Aktuality.sk", who was murdered in February 2018 along with his fiancée, Martina Kusnirova. A couple of months prior to Kuciak's death, Kočner allegedly threatened in a phone call to "dig up dirt" on Kuciak, saying "I will focus especially on you, your mother, your father, on your siblings". Kuciak filed a criminal complaint but a subsequent police investigation concluded that Kočner's alleged statements did not constitute a criminal offence. After Kuciak's murder, general prosecutor Jaromír Čižnár ordered the case to be reopened. However police again closed the case concluding that Kočner's statements did not constitute a criminal offence. "Aktuality.sk" subsequently published a transcript of the phone call between Kuciak and Kočner.