“The Provincial Public Prosecutor’s Office in Lublin discontinued the investigation against Bartosz K., Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Open Dialogue Foundation, which was related to providing false data in VAT invoices and a money-laundering scheme. The investigators determined that there were no grounds for filing charges,” reported the Polish Press Agency.
The information on the case was provided in a Tuesday (10.12) press release by Beata Syk-Jankowska, the spokesperson for the Provincial Public Prosecutor’s Office in Lublin. As the spokesperson stated, the investigation against Bartosz K. was terminated in December, due to the lack of features of a prohibited act.
Starting from 2021, Bartosz K, as president of a consulting firm, had been suspected of providing untrue statements in VAT invoices issued (in the period from 2012 until 2016) to foreign entrepreneurs, for a total amount of over PLN 5.3 million. “The evidence gathered after the submission of the charges, in the course of verifying Bartosz K.’s line of defence, substantiates the version of events presented by him, that the services specified in the described invoices (…) had actually been performed,” said the spokesperson.
The Polish Press Agency recalls that the prosecution service had already charged Bartosz K. with money laundering in the past. Based on the latest release, there is no evidence that the money that entered the company’s account actually originated from any kind of crime. Even though – as the spokesperson claims – such possibility cannot be definitely ruled out – the investigators have not managed to determine any specific criminal act from which the illicit proceeds would actually originate.
“The Prosecutor concluded that the non-transparency of the sources of income of the company administered by Bartosz K. constituted a circumstance that could have heightened suspicions that he might have committed a money laundering offence. Nevertheless, the gathered evidence did not provide the necessary grounds for prosecution, which led to the discontinuation of the investigation,” explains Syk-Jankowska.
Bartosz K. was detained on 22 June 2021 by Internal Security Agency officers and then brought to the Provincial Public Prosecutor’s Office in Lublin. Following the prosecutor’s request, he was remanded in custody for three months, on the condition that the detention will be lifted if the suspect posts a bail of PLN 300 000. The District Court in Lublin did not consider the prosecutor’s appeal in this regard, and after depositing PLN 300 thousand bail, Bartosz K. left the detention facility.
“These allegations are, obviously, preposterous. There are no victims or injured parties here. I don’t know what this case is all about,” Bartosz K himself said at that time.
The prosecutor’s office reported that in the years 2012-2016 Bartosz K. allegedly issued 46 VAT invoices for unspecified consulting services to 11 foreign contractors, amounting to a total of ca. PLN 5.3 million. “Bartosz K.’s business partners only included entities operating in the so-called tax havens, such as Belize or the Seychelles, or businessmen posing as economic players and based in virtual headquarters,” reported the prosecutor’s service in 2021, adding that the funds obtained from foreign entities were transferred to, among others, the Open Dialogue Foundation.
Bartosz K. is the CEO of a consulting firm, whose activities – as recorded in the National Court Register – have been suspended since March of this year. He is also the Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Open Dialogue Foundation, which is run by Lyudmyla Kozlovska. In 2018, she was listed as an undesirable person in Poland. After the change of government, at the end of 2023, the court ordered her name to be removed from this list. In November 2024, Kozlovska filed with the prosecution service a notification of a suspected criminal offence by the Internal Security Agency’s officers, and Head of the Office for Foreigners, consisting in the consideration by these institutions that she posed a threat to the national security, which occurred during the Law and Justice’s rule.
Source: radio.lublin.pl
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In other media:
- OKO.press: The prosecution service discontinued its investigation against Bartosz Kramek after 7 years. The case dossier comprises over 10,000 pages (December 16, 2024)
- Gazeta Wyborcza: Years of Ziarkiewicz-led lawfare against Kramek. ‘No grounds for prosecution’ (December 10, 2024)
- TVN24: Discontinuation of the investigation against the Chair of the ODF Supervisory Board (December 10, 2024)
- TOK FM: The services are focused on ODF. “Let’s dig up some dirt on Kramek” (December 6, 2024)