Seven detained in a multi-threaded investigation
Officers of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau have detained seven individuals, including entrepreneurs who in the past carried out contracts for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs around the world. The detentions are related to an investigation into the offering of financial benefits and exerting influence over the outcome of a public tender. The multi-threaded proceedings are supervised by the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw.
On 14 and 21 April 2026, officers of the Regional Office of the CBA in Kraków detained seven individuals, including a member of the management board of a municipal company, an expert witness, and entrepreneurs who had previously carried out numerous construction and renovation contracts for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs worldwide.
The arrests were made in the Małopolskie Province and at Warsaw Chopin Airport.
Officers of the Regional Offices of the CBA in Kraków, Katowice, and Szczecin also conducted searches at several locations in the Małopolskie, Mazowieckie, and Zachodniopomorskie provinces. During the operations, extensive documentation, electronic equipment, as well as cash and gold coins with a total value of approximately PLN 208,000 were secured.
Two strands of the investigation
Officers of the Regional Office of the CBA in Kraków are conducting preparatory proceedings concerning two interconnected criminal schemes.
The first concerns repeated instances of a private entrepreneur offering financial benefits in the form of money to a former president of the management board of a municipal company.
The second strand concerns unlawful influence over the outcome of a tender announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for an audit of an investment project in Ukraine. The actions were aimed at obtaining financial and personal gain. The unlawful influence allegedly involved private entrepreneurs entering into an agreement with an external expert appointed by the Ministry to prepare the tender. Findings indicate that key tender-related data were subsequently disclosed to external entities, which ultimately led to the cancellation of the tender.
Charges and preventive measures
The detained individuals were brought before the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw, where they were formally charged.
The prosecutor filed a motion for the application of a preventive measure in the form of pre-trial detention for a period of three months against three suspects. The court granted the motion, allowing in one case the possibility of replacing detention with a non-custodial measure upon payment of a substantial financial bail.
With regard to the remaining suspects, the prosecutor applied non-custodial preventive measures, including police supervision, a ban on contacting specific individuals, and a prohibition on leaving the country combined with the confiscation of passports.
Proceedings ongoing
This was the first operational action in the ongoing preparatory proceedings. The investigation is multi-threaded and remains ongoing.
CBA appeal
The CBA reminds that, pursuant to Article 229 § 6 of the Polish Penal Code, a perpetrator of an offence involving the giving or promising to give a financial or personal benefit to a public official in connection with their function is not subject to punishment if the benefit or its promise has been accepted by the public official, and the perpetrator notifies the law enforcement authorities and discloses all relevant circumstances of the offence before the authorities become aware of it.
Anyone with information regarding the criminal scheme is encouraged to contact the Regional Office of the CBA in Kraków, 31-553 Kraków, 18 Fabryczna Street.
CBA Press Team
-
CBA
