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Post by Bonobo on Oct 30, 2011 21:41:10 GMT 1
Interior ministry in nepotism probe
28.10.2011 11:28
Warsaw prosecutors are expected to file for the detention of two out of six suspects accused of corruption in Poland’s interior ministry.
Accusations include accepting bribes to the amount of 211,000 zloty (50,000 euro), money laundering, and the failure to carry out professional duties.
Suspects embroiled in the corruption case include the former director of the interior ministry’s IT Project Centre, as well as a current officer at the Central Police HQ and two members of his family, who handed over sums of money on behalf of an IT company in Wroclaw, south-west Poland, prosecutor spokesman Zbigniew Jaskolski has informed.
Public prosecutors are to expected to file for the arrest warrants before the weekend.
The Central Anticorruption Bureau took two of the ministry’s IT Centre directors into custody on Wednesday, although the precise charges are not known, with information only released pertaining to bribes taken during the computerisation of the interior ministry.
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry IT Centre has released a statement which informs that the charges “do not relate to [the Centre’s] current ‘eServices’ project”, but another project previously undertaken by the ministry.
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Post by Bonobo on Jan 28, 2016 0:25:51 GMT 1
Corruption in Poland has declined over time in the recent years. In international rankings it is below the world average but not insignificant. Within Poland, surveys of Polish citizens reveal that it is perceived to be a major problem. Poland ranked 38th in the 175 country listing the Corruption Perception Index for 2013 (higher ranking indicates higher corruption). It is the eighth successive year in which Poland's score and ranking have improved in the Index. A 2011 report by the Institute of Public Affairs also criticized the standards of public life in Poland, and the prevalence of nepotism and cronyism. A 2012 report jointly prepared by from the Institute of Public Affairs and Transparency International notes that the corruption in Poland is lower than in the past, when in mid-1990s it was "a phenomenon of a systemic nature". As described in that report, the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators (accessible here) for "rule of law" and "control of corruption" show steady improvement for Poland.[4] Poland has joined the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention in 2000, implementing relevant legislation in 2001.[5] Poland has also made significant progress in combating corruption like the establishment of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau and the first anti-corruption strategy which was adopted in 2002. Corruption is a problem for businesses operating in Poland, although its levels have decreased in recent years. Political corruption constitutes a challenge to fair business as politicians use their positions to gain benefits, and practices of nepotism and cronyism are widespread. Poland's Criminal Code offences include active and passive bribery, bribery of foreign officials, extortion and money laundering. However, the government does not prosecute these offences effectively, and officials engage in corruption with impunity. Sectors most prone to corruption are public services and public procurement. Despite facilitation payments and gifts being criminalised, these practices are widespread. Pjotr, thank you for this elaborate lecture, you put so much heart, time and effort into it, as usual. The latest data appeared today.
Poland less corrupt?
27.01.2016 13:13
Poland has been ranked as the 30th least corrupt country in the world, five notches better than last year, by Transparency International in its latest Corruption Perceptions Index.
According to the annual report, last year the least corrupt country in the world was Denmark, followed by Finland and Sweden.
North Korea and Somalia tied in last – 167th – place, meaning they are seen as the world’s most corrupt countries.
Based on expert opinion, the Corruption Perceptions Index measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption worldwide.
José Ugaz, the chairman of Transparency International, said: “The 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index clearly shows that corruption remains a blight around the world.”- See more at: www.thenews.pl/1/10/Artykul/238237,Poland-less-corrupt#sthash.GH2YGGbR.dpuf |
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Post by pjotr on Jan 28, 2016 1:45:16 GMT 1
You're welcome Bo. I am glad that in a few years Poland has become less corrupt. From 38th in the 175 country listing the Corruption Perception Index for 2013 to the the 30th least corrupt country in the world in "The 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index".
I hope that Poland be 25th and 20th in the near future. Both government and opposition should work on fighting corruption, nepotism and cronyism.
Despite the differences corruption and nepotism are a plague to society. They limit chances of people, spoil tax payers money, destroy and hinder initiatives and succes of good and honest people, who are truthfull, ethnical and hard working.
Corruption of any political colour should be fought against, wether it was a SLD-PSL (Leszek Miller, Aleksander Kwaśniewski and Jarosław Kalinowski); PiS-Liga Polskich Rodzin (LPR)-Samoobrona Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej (SRP) (Jarosław Kaczyński, Lech Kaczyński, Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, Andrzej Lepper and Roman Giertych) or the Platforma Obywatelska-PSL government of the last decade (Donald Tusk, Waldemar Pawlak).
I hope that the new government of PiS-Solidarna Polska won't allow corruption. Nepotism is already taking place. I hope that they keep promise and fight corruption. The government and the opposition should cooperate in fighting corruption, cronyism and nepotism despite their differences. PiS will have to realise that it is a government of all Poles and not only of government supporters and loyalists.
Cheers,
Pieter
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Post by Bonobo on Feb 7, 2017 22:55:41 GMT 1
www.rp.pl/Sadownictwo/170209417-9-pracownikow-Elektrowni-Szczecin-przyznalo-sie-do-zarzutow-korupcyjnych.html#ap-1
- PGE - Listed power group PGE is yet to assess potential losses which may have been incurred in connection with suspicion of corruption practices going back several years at its Szczecin power plant, the company said in a press statement. Instead of supplying high quality fuel to the power plant in Szczecin, certain businessman sold them poor fuel, after bribing top managers in the plant. Anti-corruption agents found hundreds of thousands in cash in accused workers` places.
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Post by Bonobo on Mar 5, 2017 18:47:13 GMT 1
Polish anticorruption squad detains five over World Youth Days contract
02.03.2017 15:00
Central Anticorruption Bureau (CBA) officers have detained five people in connection with the organization of World Youth Days in Poland last year.
Investigators are probing a contract between Poland's state-owned railway company PKP and a Warsaw business. The PLN 1.9 million (EUR 440,000) deal is suspected to have caused the rail firm losses.
The agreement concerned anti-terrorism measures at rail stations to cut the risk of a bomb attack as the country prepared to host throngs of pilgrims during World Youth Days with Pope Francis.
World Youth Days were held in Kraków, southern Poland, in July 2016. It was one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, drawing more than a million people from around the globe.
CBA spokesman Temistokles Brodowski said that among the five detained were a PKP official in charge of security and an officer from the Government Protection Bureau (BOR).
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Post by Bonobo on Apr 8, 2017 23:37:51 GMT 1
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Post by Bonobo on Apr 30, 2017 19:20:25 GMT 1
Ex-minister’s former company in corruption probe: report
24.04.2017 15:24
A firm that was co-owned by former treasury minister Aleksander Grad is under investigation in relation to a lucrative contract signed with a state-owned company, the Fakt daily has reported.
Fakt says that for many years, the MGGP company was partly owned by Aleksander Grad.
When he became treasury minister in 2007, in the Civic Platform (PO) government led by then-PM Donald Tusk, Grad gave his 25-percent stake in the company to his wife Małgorzata, Fakt said.
Under PO, the MGGP company – which according to its website deals in engineering and geoinformation services – won several lucrative contracts. One deal, which Fakt reported about a few months ago, was signed for some PLN 24.8 million, the paper said.
It added that it had seen new documents indicating that MGGP would earn significantly more.
The contract with a subsidiary of gas monopoly PGNiG included the maintenance of IT systems for 30 years, Fakt said. The service costs PLN 180,000 a month, the daily said. Over three decades, the bill could run up to PLN 64 million, according to Fakt.
MGGP can be considered a family business, Fakt said, adding that Paweł Grad’s wife Małgorzata is on the company’s board. The couple’s son Paweł is the deputy chairman of the company, it added.
Fakt reported that Poland's Central Anticorruption Bureau is investigating the matter.
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Post by Bonobo on Jan 26, 2018 22:22:35 GMT 1
Polish police officers suspected of tip-offs over road accidents
04.01.2018 10:58
Police officers who were allegedly bribed to tip off vehicle recovery companies about road accidents in Warsaw face up to ten years in jail.
The suspected police officers allegedly received over PLN 50,000 (EUR 12,000, USD 14,400) in total for informing recovery firms about when and where crashes had occurred, Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Łukasz Łapczyński, a spokesman for the Warsaw District Prosecutor's Office, said that the suspects provided information from 2011 to April 2017, when they were detained.
The IAR news agency did not specify how many police officers are being investigated in the case.
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 16, 2018 22:52:02 GMT 1
newsmavens.com/news/aha-moments/2155/corruption-scandal-electrifies-polish-politics
Corruption scandal electrifies Polish politics
On March 31, 2018, the head of Poland's financial regulatory body met with a billionaire banker to allegedly offer him institutional protection in exchange for about 9.2 million euros. Last week, the affair was exposed by the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.
Ada Petriczko
The ruling Law and Justice (PIS) party came to power on the promise to fight corruption. “We may not be as worldy as the previous government, but at least we are not corrupt,” was the PiS message over the past three years.
Now, one of the top state officials appointed under their rule -- the director of the Financial Supervision Authority (KNF), Marek Chrzanowski -- has been accused of soliciting a multimillion bribe from banker Leszek Czarnecki. Chrzanowski is a protege of another key figure of the political scene -- Marek Glapiński, the director of the National Bank of Poland (NBP).
As soon as the scandal broke out, Chrzanowski resigned from his post and the Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, ordered state agencies to investigate the case. Zbigniew Ziobro, the country’s justice minister and prosecutor-general, announced that he would oversee the probe himself.
But no matter how hard party officials may try to present Chrzanowski as a technocrat rather than a political figure, the damage has been done -- and PiS's reputation is not the only thing at stake here.
On the international level, the scandal could taint the image of Poland’s financial sector, which has been one of Europe’s most reliable over the past decade, withstanding even the hardships of the 2008 crisis.
Details from the story:
The affair surfaced last week, when the daily “Gazeta Wyborcza” published a report based on a stenographic record of the meeting between the two men, which took place over half a year ago in Warsaw.
They met to discuss the financial troubles which Czarnecki’s Getin Bank found itself in. The banker grew suspicious when Marek Chrzanowski invited him to a private meeting in his office, alone, so he showed up carrying three recording devices.
Chrzanowski began the conversation by suggesting that there are people in the Financial Supervision Authority who would like to see Getin Bank go bankrupt, then bought out for 1 zloty (25 cents) and nationalized. But, he carried on, this scenario can be averted if Czarnecki hired a lawyer, Grzegorz Kowalczyk (who later turned out to be Chrzanowski’s family friend), for a certain wage that would depend on the worth of the bank.
During the key moment of the meeting, Chrzanowski allegedly took out a piece of paper and wrote “1%” on it, to indicate how much the lawyer would earn. Czarnecki estimates 1% of his bank’s worth to be about 40 million zloty (9.2 million euros).
Writing is a method often used during corruption proposals as it cannot be audio recorded.
The Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) is the financial regulatory authority for Poland. It oversees banking, capital markets, insurance, pension scheme and electronic money institutions.
Over the past 30 years, Leszek Czarnecki earned the nickname of Poland’s Warren Buffet for making some of the best investments in the country. However, Buffet’s empire never suffered the kind of troubles Czarnecki’s banks are now facing. Getin Bank saw its ratings downgraded by Moody's twice in the past year, most recently in October.
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