Corruption in tenders for PGNiG S.A.
Eight persons involved in corrupt practices in the organisation of tenders for PGNiG S.A. Branch in Zielona Góra have been detained by the CBA. This is a new investigation conducted by the CBA and the first operation in this case.
Officers of the CBA Regional Office in Poznań, supervised by the District Prosecutor's Office in Zielona Góra, have been investigating accepting financial advantages by employees of a joint-stock company of the State Treasury, i.e. Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo S.A. Oddział Zielona Góra (Polish Oil and Gas Company Branch in Zielona Góra) in return for acts constituting unfair competition, as well as acting to the detriment of the company above by producing and using false invoices and money laundering.
In recent days, officers of the CBA Regional Office in Poznań have detained eight persons, including an employee of the Electricity and Automation Department of PGNiG S.A., Zielona Góra Branch, and seven owners and employees of companies in the Wielkopolskie, Lubuskie, Mazowieckie, Łódzkie, Dolnośląskie and Śląskie Voivodships, involved in corrupt practices.
All of them have already heard charges in the Prosecutor's Office. The court granted the prosecutor's request for the application of remand in custody against one of the detainees. Non-custodial preventive measures have been applied against the other detainees.
Evidence gathered in the case indicates that from March 2020 to April 2021, at the stage of tender proceedings, an employee of the Electricity and Automation Department of PGNiG S.A. Branch in Zielona Góra entered into an informal agreement with the owners of the companies providing them with relevant information and artificially inflating the value of ordered services by at least PLN 588 thousand, and as a result led PGNiG S.A. Branch in Zielona Góra to disadvantageous disposal of property of significant value. Afterwards, he accepted the amount thus obtained as a bribe, claiming payment for alleged design services provided to these entities as part of his business activities based on VAT invoices which did not reflect actual economic events.
The detained employee was in charge of the execution of framework agreements concluded with various business entities for comprehensive servicing of electrical equipment and installations in mining facilities, i.e. overhauls, repairs and servicing of low and medium voltage switchgears in mines and gas storage facilities administered by the PGNiG Branch in Zielona Góra.
Preliminary findings indicate that the practice could have been conducted for a longer period and the perpetrators made it a permanent source of income. The case is in progress.
CBA Press Team
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Corruption in tenders for PGNiG S.A.
