POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Tomasz Konopka, Katarzyna Randzio-Sajkowska and Jakub Kocuba, Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak
7.5 Recent Landmark Investigations or Decisions There have been many significant cases of brib - ery and corruption in Poland. One of the biggest corruption cases is being conducted by the Circuit Prosecution Office in Warsaw. The case concerns a Polish citizen (a former Minister of Transport in Poland) for acts committed while he was the head of the State Automobile Road Services in Ukraine. The sus - pect is accused of accepting material benefits amounting to several million zlotys (PLN) in exchange for supporting a specific company in the award and execution of public procure - ment procedures for the construction and maintenance of roads in Ukraine. The Prosecu - tion Office in Warsaw conducted the investiga - tion in co-operation with Ukrainian authorities. The prosecutor has filed an indictment and the case is currently being recognised by the Circuit Court in Warsaw, and is at the trial stage. As the accused is the former Minister of Transport and a well-known former politician, the case has received a lot of media attention and remains of public interest. In another high-profile corruption case, Poland’s former deputy Foreign Minister and others are alleged to have been involved in a scheme that allowed non-EU citizens, mainly from Africa and Asia, to obtain Polish visas in a fast-track procedure by paying bribes. The case is being conducted by the National Prosecutor’s Office, Lublin Division, and the CBA. Recently, on 25 October 2024, the CBA detained the Deputy Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship in Poland and the prosecutor charged him with corruption. The details of the charges are not yet known, but according to media reports they are related both to his position as the Deputy Mar -
shal of the Silesian Voivodeship and to his former position as the Deputy Mayor of Częstochowa. The court decided to place him under temporary arrest. In another well-known corruption case that is still pending, the former Minister of the Treasury and the former Deputy Minister of the Treasury are suspected of accepting bribes in connec - tion with contracts with the Municipal Sanita - tion Enterprise in Warsaw, worth approximately PLN6 million. The former Minister of the Treas - ury is accused of accepting a bribe of almost PLN5 million and the former Deputy Minister is accused of, among other things, leading a criminal organisation and money laundering. The investigation is currently being conducted by the prosecutor’s office in Katowice. 7.6 Level of Sanctions Imposed The proceedings described in 7.5 Recent Land- mark Investigations or Decisions are still under way. Currently, no criminal sanctions have been imposed on the individuals or legal entities for the offences allegedly committed. At present, legal provisions do not require com - panies to implement a compliance programme. However, many private companies implement such programmes and this is a defence against the offences. Compliance programmes are par - ticularly common in companies with foreign cap - ital and in the financial sector. In the absence of a general regulation on compliance programmes, it is difficult to establish any specific recom - mended elements for such programmes. As a rule, it would be advisable for their scope to cov - er all the units, or branches and subsidiaries of a 8. Compliance Expectations 8.1 Compliance Obligations
337 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook