“I am truly outraged that not only are they trying to paint me as a thief, but also a foolish thief,” said former head of the Governmental Agency for Strategic Reserves (RARS), Michał Kuczmierowski, on Telewizja Republika. He was responding to testimony from Paweł Szopa, who claimed he set aside money from successive orders for bribes—though he never actually handed them over.
According to findings by Telewizja Republika, just one day after being transported from the Dominican Republic to Poland, Paweł Szopa began cooperating with investigators. In testimonies obtained by journalist Piotr Nisztor, Szopa said he amassed over three million zlotys for bribes but did not distribute the money to anyone.
“After the first two or three contracts were finalized, Paweł K. came to me on behalf of Kuczmierowski,” Szopa stated in his testimony. “He was part of that team; they knew each other, worked together. I knew they were friends; they’d known each other from scouting or somewhere else. The proposal was that I should set aside part of the money from each order for them—specifically, one grosz per item. And since the products were ordered in the millions, the total amount was large,” he told investigators.
Asked on Telewizja Republika why no one ever came for the alleged bribe, former RARS head Kuczmierowski replied:
“That’s an excellent question. It perfectly illustrates the worthlessness of these forced accusations. It would be the dumbest, strangest bribe, never actually handed over—supposedly tied to various orders—but even though it was never paid, further orders kept coming,” he pointed out.
Pressed on whether he had sent Paweł K. to Szopa to negotiate the conditions of the supposed bribe, Kuczmierowski immediately dismissed the idea: “These are absurd slanders.”
“Maybe I’d be the dumbest criminal anyone could imagine. I am truly outraged that they’re trying to label me both a thief and a stupid thief,” he said, refuting Szopa’s account.
“It’s utter nonsense; I never received any money,” Kuczmierowski reiterated.
The former head of the Governmental Agency for Strategic Reserves (RARS) was charged in August of last year with participating in an organized criminal group, failing to fulfill his duties, and exceeding his authority to gain financial benefit. Kuczmierowski was released in February of this year after spending five months in custody in the United Kingdom.