Lawyer and company proxy charged with corruption
Officers of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau detained two people in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship and secured documentation of evidential value. Claiming influence in the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and other institutions is in the background. The investigation is supervised by the West Pomeranian Terrain Division of the Department of Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Prosecutor’s Office in Szczecin.
On 4 September 2024, as a result of the activities of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, the officers detained a lawyer and a proxy of a property development company operating in Warsaw. The detained persons have been charged with corruption related to claiming influence and promising to give a financial benefit in exchange for intermediation in a case.
New Threads and Findings
The investigators’ findings show that the detained lawyer, acting jointly and in agreement with Ryszard S. – the brother of the General Conservator of Monuments – claimed, in front of the persons acting for the developer company, their influence, among others, in the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and with the Mazovian Voivodeship Conservator of Monuments and the General Conservator of Monuments.
In exchange for the promise of a financial benefit, they undertook to act as intermediaries in the interests of the company, which had been trying for several years to obtain a positive decision from the Mazovian Voivodeship Conservator of Monuments to carry out archaeological excavations. This permission was necessary in order to clear up the land, which was listed in the Register of Immovable Monuments, and to commence a construction project in the future.
Officers from the Regional Offices of the CBA in Szczecin, Warsaw, Lublin, Białystok and Łódź took part in the procedural implementation. Officers secured documentation and electronic media concerning contacts between the suspects.
Preventive Measures Applied
At the request of the Prosecutor, the court applied a temporary detention of 1.5 months for the detained lawyer.
Ongoing Case
This is the third trial implementation in the ongoing investigation concerning the claiming influence in front of administrative bodies dealing with the protection of historical monuments. The investigation in this case is supervised by the West Pomeranian Terrain Division of the Department of Organized Crime and Corruption of the National Prosecutor’s Office in Szczecin. So far, 11 persons have been charged. Further proceedings are planned.
CBA Press Team
