Fictitious Donations for a Parish
Officers of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau detained twelve individuals, including a parish priest from the Mińsk County. By decision of the court, six of them were remanded in custody. The investigation concerning the extortion of income tax is being conducted by the Regional Office of the CBA in Łódź under the supervision of the District Prosecutor’s Office in Siedlce.
On September 29-30, 2025, officers from the Central Anticorruption Bureau Regional Offices in Łódź, Warsaw, Lublin, Katowice, and Białystok detained 12 people, including nine men and three women. Among those detained were a parish priest, senior management staff, and private entrepreneurs. The operations were carried out in the Masovian, Warmian-Masurian, and Łódź Voivodeships. Documentation and electronic equipment were secured.
Millions in State Treasury Losses
Officers from the Regional Office of the CBA in Łódź are conducting preparatory proceedings under the supervision of the District Prosecutor's Office in Siedlce concerning the submission of false information in tax returns by individuals and legal entities between 2016 and 2024.
According to the findings, the detainees, when filing their annual income tax returns for respective fiscal years, allegedly included false information regarding purported donations to one of the parishes located in Mińsk County. The donations were fictitious – funds transferred by taxpayers to the parish bank account were returned in cash, in reduced amounts. The clergyman, by issuing relevant documents, allegedly confirmed receipt of fictitious donations for religious purposes. This enabled the donors to unlawfully reduce their income tax liabilities. The losses to the State Treasury resulting from this criminal scheme are estimated at PLN 2.6 million.
Charges and Preventive Measures
The detainees were brought to the District Prosecutor's Office in Siedlce, where they were charged, among others, under Article 286 of the Penal Code and Article 56 of the Penal Code.
At the prosecutor's request, the District Court in Siedlce imposed preventive measures in the form of pretrial detention on six suspects, including the parish priest.
Non-custodial preventive measures were imposed on the remaining detainees, including bail, police supervision, and a ban on contact with specific individuals.
Security was also placed on the suspects' property. The seized items included cash worth PLN 1.5 million and a passenger car worth PLN 120,000.
The investigation is ongoing. Further proceedings are planned.
CBA Press Team
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CBA
