“There is reasonable suspicion of crimes committed by those granting subsidies, intermediaries, and those fraudulently obtaining them,” stated prosecutor Jacek Skała. He added: “I see half the penal code here.” For now, however, the Warsaw Regional Prosecutor’s Office has limited itself to issuing a statement about “preliminary verification activities,” while Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek, so active in the media in recent days, has suddenly gone silent.
The government of Donald Tusk is facing a massive scandal over the allocation of funds from the National Recovery Plan (KPO). With almost every passing hour, new facts are coming to light, further fueling public outrage. The narrative of the December 13 coalition politicians, claiming they didn’t know, hadn’t heard, or reacted immediately, is also collapsing.
“The ministry knew about the boats, and it responded to questions from operators as to whether motorboats could be permitted. The Minister assured entrepreneurs that she personally intervened to loosen the original rules so that the funds could flow more smoothly and quickly,”
revealed the recently dismissed president of PARP, Katarzyna Duber-Stachurska.
She added: “The Minister entrusted the inspection to the very same people who have been running the program for 1.5 years, in other words, she told them to investigate themselves.”
It is therefore no surprise that questions are increasingly being raised about the actions of the security services, and above all, the prosecutor’s office. So far, the only official response has been an exceptionally brief statement:
“The Warsaw Regional Prosecutor’s Office has, on its own initiative, undertaken preliminary verification activities in connection with media reports of irregularities in granting subsidies from the National Recovery Plan.”
This has surprised legal experts.
“Hello! Warsaw Regional Prosecutor’s Office! How are those preliminary checks going? We know it’s the weekend, but some evidence may be irretrievably lost,” commented the Ad Vocem Association on X. “If anyone thinks they can close the eyes and mouths of citizens with an enigmatic statement about preliminary checks regarding the granting of KPO subsidies, they’re mistaken.”
“And where is the Prosecutor General, and what does he think about this matter? Perhaps given the scale of the problem, it’s worth setting up an investigative team?”
they added.
Prosecutor Jacek Skała, head of the Trade Union of Prosecutors and Employees of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Poland, also responded.
“In my opinion, there is no reason to conduct preliminary checks, because there is reasonable suspicion of crimes committed by those granting subsidies, intermediaries, and fraudsters. In such situations, there are legal grounds to initiate an investigation,” he wrote.
“I won’t suggest the legal classifications, but as my former boss used to say: ‘Mr. Jacek, I see half the penal code here,’” he concluded.