Major Fraud Scheme Targeting NCBR and PARP
Officers of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, acting on an order issued by a prosecutor from the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Szczecin, detained three individuals. The detainees are entrepreneurs suspected of collaborating in the misappropriation of funding granted by the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) and the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP). The investigation is supervised by the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Szczecin.
On 26 October 2026, officers from the CBA Regional Office in Szczecin detained three entrepreneurs in the Wielkopolskie Voivodeship who had allegedly acted jointly and in concert. The entrepreneurs were charged with fraud involving property of substantial value to the detriment of NCBR and PARP. During the operation, officers secured documentation and electronic data storage devices.
False Invoices and Fictitious Services
The detainees played different roles in a fraudulent scheme involving the misappropriation of public funding. They managed portfolio companies that obtained grants, while grant beneficiaries held positions on the management boards of these companies and acquired shares in them. These activities bore the characteristics of fraud to the detriment of NCBR and PARP, as the work declared under the grants was fictitious and did not reflect the actual scope of the activities carried out.
The investigation established that entrepreneurs with business ties knowingly allowed their companies to be used to transfer illegally obtained funds. The money was ostensibly allocated to subcontracting services but ultimately returned to members of the criminal group or the grant beneficiaries themselves. The total amount transferred through this scheme reached nearly PLN 3 million.
Charges and Preventive Measures
The detainees were brought before the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Szczecin, where they were charged with fraud involving property of substantial value to the detriment of NCBR, issuing invoices containing false information with a total amount due exceeding the statutory threshold for substantial value, improperly maintaining accounting records, submitting false declarations concerning the use of grant funds for their intended purposes, and money laundering.
The suspects were subjected to preventive measures, including financial sureties totalling PLN 360,000, police supervision combined with a prohibition on contacting other suspects and other individuals, and a ban on leaving the country.
The investigation currently involves 50 suspects.
CBA Press Team
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CBA
