CENTRAL ANTI-CORRUPTION BUREAU Financial Benefit in Exchange for a Favorable Court Ruling - News

Officers from the Regional Office of the CBA in Wrocław detained two men in Wrocław — a notary and a retired university lecturer. The suspects allegedly demanded financial benefits in exchange for intermediation in obtaining a favorable court ruling. CBA officers conducted searches and secured evidence in nine locations across Lower Silesia. Officers from the Regional Offices of the CBA in Poznań and Katowice also participated in the operation.

Claiming Influence

Officers from the Regional Office of the CBA in Wrocław are conducting preparatory proceedings in a case involving claiming influence before an individual participating in court proceedings—initially as a defendant and later as a convicted person. The two men allegedly undertook to act as intermediaries, claiming to have influence in Wrocław courts, in order to secure a more lenient sentence in court proceedings.

According to the investigation’s findings, one of the detained individuals, claiming to have influence in a Wrocław court, undertook to mediate in obtaining a favorable ruling in court proceedings. This mediation was to involve unlawfully influencing a judge and thereby affecting the course of second-instance proceedings by reducing the imposed sentence and securing a positive decision on lifting preventive measures. The suspect also allegedly reassured the interested party of having influence in the Supreme Court, which was supposed to lead to the overturning of the appellate court’s judgment and the referral of the case for reconsideration. According to the evidence, the suspect undertook further mediation in subsequent court proceedings, seeking to obtain a personal benefit for the individual involved in the proceedings as a defendant and later as a convicted person. In exchange, he accepted financial benefits, including money amounting to no less than PLN 120,000 and a flat renovation.

The second detainee, also claiming to have influence in Wrocław courts of first and second instance, allegedly undertook to mediate in obtaining a court ruling in exchange for financial benefits of approximately PLN 70,000. This mediation was to involve unlawfully influencing a judge and securing the most favorable judgment possible for the defendant.

Preventive Measures Applied

The detainees were brought to the Wielkopolska Regional Branch of the Department for Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office in Poznań, where they were formally charged.

The prosecutor imposed non-custodial preventive measures, including bail totaling PLN 130,000, a ban on leaving the country combined with the seizure of passports, and police supervision combined with a prohibition on contacting specified individuals.

The Case Is Ongoing

This is the first operational action in the ongoing preparatory proceedings. Further procedural steps are planned.

CBA Appeal

The CBA reminds that, pursuant to Article 230a § 3 of the Penal Code, a person who has given or promised a financial or personal benefit is not subject to punishment if the benefit or its promise has been accepted, and the perpetrator notifies law enforcement authorities and discloses all relevant circumstances of the offense before the authorities become aware of it.

Anyone with information about this criminal activity may contact the Regional Office of the CBA in Wrocław, 54-519 Wrocław, ul. Jerzmanowska 4D.

CBA Press Team