CENTRAL ANTI-CORRUPTION BUREAU Fictitious Donations Under CBA Scrutiny - News

On 15 October 2026, officers of the CBA Regional Office in Łódź detained four men, including company presidents and senior managers from the banking and manufacturing sectors. The operations were carried out in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship. During searches of the detainees’ residences, CBA officers secured documentation relating to the alleged donations.

Cash Returned to Donors

Officers of the CBA Regional Office in Łódź, under the supervision of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Siedlce, are conducting an investigation into tax fraud allegedly committed by identified taxpayers, including individuals acting on behalf of or for the benefit of business entities. The investigation concerns the issuance of fictitious documents between 2016 and 2024 and the execution of bank transfers intended to make the alleged donations appear legitimate and to substantiate documentation used to claim tax deductions for charitable donations.

According to the findings of the investigation, the detainees allegedly declared fictitious donations for religious worship purposes in their annual income tax returns for the years 2016–2023. The donations were transferred to a parish located in the municipality of Mińsk Mazowiecki. The funds were subsequently returned to the donors in cash, with a portion of the original amount deducted.

The parish priest, who was in charge of the parish at the time, issued documents confirming receipt of the fictitious donations. These documents enabled the donors to claim tax deductions for donations made for religious worship purposes, thereby reducing their personal income tax (PIT) liability. The total amount of fictitious donations made by the detainees reached nearly PLN 800,000.

Charges and Preventive Measures

The detainees were brought before the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Siedlce, where they were charged under Article 286 of the Polish Criminal Code.

Non-custodial preventive measures were imposed on the suspects, including police supervision and financial sureties totalling PLN 360,000. In addition, the prosecutor secured assets worth approximately PLN 800,000, including gold bars, certified gold coins, valuable watches and cash.

Investigation Continues

This is the fourth operation conducted as part of the CBA investigation, which has been ongoing since 2025. During the first operation, CBA officers detained 12 individuals, including a parish priest from Mińsk County. At the prosecutor’s request, the District Court in Siedlce ordered the pre-trial detention of six suspects, including the parish priest, for a period of three months.

To date, 110 individuals have faced more than 240 charges in connection with the investigation. Assets worth approximately PLN 12.5 million, including cash, real estate and movable property, have been secured throughout the proceedings.

According to the findings gathered so far by CBA officers, the total value of fictitious donations made to the parish amounted to nearly PLN 28 million. Losses to the State Treasury have been estimated at almost PLN 3 million.

Further law enforcement operations are planned.

CBA Press Team