CENTRAL ANTI-CORRUPTION BUREAU always in the interest of Poland Further arrests in the PARP and NCBiR case - News

On September 30, 2025, officers from the Regional Office of the CBA in Szczecin arrested three individuals involved in siphoning off EU funds. The operations were carried out in the Greater Poland and Silesian Voivodeships. During the investigation, documentation and data storage media used by the suspects were seized.

Investigation into the Unfavorable Disposal of Property of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development and the National Centre for Research and Development.

Officers from the Regional Office of the Szczecin, under the supervision of the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Szczecin, are conducting an investigation into the commission of crimes involving the unfavorable disposal of property of the managing institutions – the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP) and the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBiR). The crimes were committed as part of an organized criminal group operating in 2019-2020.

Fictitious Grant Work

The individuals arrested on September 30th were involved in the criminal activity in various roles. Two of them acted as grant recipients, while one acted as a subcontractor.

The grant recipients' projects received funding for grants, which were to be implemented through designated portfolio companies. The grant recipients acquired shares in the companies, serving as CEOs. Their actions constituted fraud to the detriment of the NCBiR and the PARP. The work performed in connection with the grants was of a false nature and inconsistent with the planned scope of work. The aim was to disguise the implementation of the grant objectives and to spend inflated amounts of funds on services.

Subcontractors were hired to implement the grants, agreeing to use their business activities to transfer the funds derived from the fraud. The funds for the work the subcontractors were supposed to perform were either returned to members of the criminal group or to the grant recipients themselves. In total, nearly PLN 4 million in funds were transferred.

In connection with this criminal activity, the NCBiR suffered losses of PLN 1,600,000, and the PARP suffered losses of over PLN 1,300,000.

Previous Case

A previous stage of this case took place on July 16, 2025. CBA officers detained four individuals in the Greater Poland and Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeships. They were involved in the same criminal activity – one suspect acted as a grant recipient, while three were employed as subcontractors. The suspects were charged with fraud, improper bookkeeping, and laundering criminal proceeds.

Charges and Preventive Measures

On September 30, the detainees were brought to the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Szczecin. They were charged with participating in an organized criminal group, aiding and abetting fraud to the detriment of significant value against the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP) and the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBiR), issuing false invoices whose total amount owed exceeded a significant amount, maintaining accounting records incorrectly, submitting false declarations regarding the expenditure of grant funds in accordance with their intended purpose, and money laundering – fraud committed to the detriment of the PARP and the NCBiR.

Preventive measures were imposed on the detainees, including police supervision combined with a ban on contact with other suspects and other individuals, a financial bail in the total amount of PLN 100,000, and a ban on leaving the country.

To date, a total of 12 investigations have been conducted as part of the ongoing investigation. Throughout the investigation, the prosecutor filed 120 charges against 28 individuals.

CBA Press Team