Around noon, we wrote regarding the arrest of people previously associated with NCBiR by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Beata Syk-Jankowska, spokeswoman for the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Lublin, later announced that the court approved the prosecutor’s request for the temporary arrest of three peoplewhich were previously charged in connection with an investigation into fraud from EU funds in 2021-2023.
NCBiR in Warsaw had control over the allocation of funds for the start of new companies. The prosecutor’s office investigated the activities of one of the investment funds from Lublin, which participated in obtaining such funds. According to the investigation, the money was obtained illegally.
— The established enterprises for which the funds were intended did not actually conduct business activities. They were created by a specific group of people solely for the purpose of obtaining funds from the National Center for Research and Development, explained the spokeswoman.
Several people are suspected in the investigation, including people who previously had links with NCBiR.
One of the people detained on Thursday is the former president of the NCBiR Investment Fund, Krzysztof B. – accused of participating in an organized criminal group that aimed to extortion of EU funds in the amount of approximately PLN 8 million and money laundering.
Due to the dynamic nature of the investigation and the need to maintain the secret of the investigation, the prosecutor’s office does not provide any further information.
As previously revealed by KO MPs Dariusz Joński and Michał Szczerba, Krzysztof B. was a partner of the sister of the 26-year-old, who received PLN 55 million in subsidies in the “Szybka Ścieżka” program, and Piotr Maziewski, whose company received PLN 123 million.
The scandal at NCBiR was widely described by, among others, Onet. As journalists found out, the prosecutor’s office has secretly recorded conversations of people from the NCBiR management. As a result of media reports, Jacek Żalek, deputy minister of funds and regional policy, lost his position.
NCBiR is a government executive agency reporting to the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy. Her main opinion is to allocate public money for projects that are to contribute to the “civilizational development of the country.”
