On 17 March 2025, the District Prosecutor’s Office in Lublin launched an investigation into the alleged abuse of power by officers of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) and the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Katowice. The investigation was initiated following an offence notification submitted by Bartosz Kramek, Chair of Supervisory Board of the Open Dialogue Foundation and authorised representative of the organisation. The case concerns Przemysław Krych, a businessman who was detained by the CBA in 2017 after refusing to pay a EUR 1.5 million bribe reportedly demanded on behalf of Grzegorz Ocieczek, then Deputy Head of the CBA.
The blackmailing of Przemysław Krych by Poland’s special services was extensively described in our June 2023 report ‘Punishing Philanthropy in Poland: The Case of Przemysław Krych’. The case also figured among a number of politically motivated prosecutions under the PiS government, which we urged the current Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General, Adam Bodnar, to review in early 2024.
Krych’s case is connected to a former PiS senator and the Chair of the Senate Infrastructure Committee, late Stanisław Kogut, suspected to be allegedly accepting bribes in the form of donations to his Foundation for People with Disabilities. Over a ten-year period, Przemysław Krych and affiliated companies supported the foundation financially, funding initiatives such as a hospice, construction of centres for hippotherapy and support centres for autistic children and patients with multiple sclerosis.
On 19 December 2017, Krych was detained by the CBA on allegations of giving a bribe to Senator Kogut in exchange for lobbying against two of Krych’s properties being added to the historic monuments register. The prosecution treated one of the donations made to Kogut’s foundation as a bribe. Notably, Kogut was at the time in open conflict with senior figures of the ruling United Right coalition — including PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński and prominent figures from Sovereign Poland, Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro and his protégé, Arkadiusz Mularczyk.
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Two months prior to his arrest, Krych had turned down an ‘offer’ to ‘resolve his company’s problems with special services’. The corruption proposal came from Silesian businessman Krzysztof Porowski, who claimed to have influence within the CBA and the prosecutor’s office and demanded a EUR 1.5 million bribe. In an offence notification submitted to the National Prosecutor’s Office on 21 November 2024, we indicated that the individual referred to by Porowski was Grzegorz Ocieczek, former Deputy Head of the CBA and ABW, and a former prosecutor during the PiS government.
Przemysław Krych pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against him and spent six months in custody. During that time, Krzysztof Porowski renewed his ‘offer’ through Krych’s business partner – only to be rejected again. While in custody, Krych was reportedly approached by CBA officers posing as fellow inmates, who implied he could be released if he agreed to falsely implicate opposition-aligned mayors of Poland’s largest cities. He was also threatened with having child pornography, allegedly featuring images of his own daughter (sic), planted on his computer if he refused to cooperate. After his release, Krych turned down yet another offer – this time extended by former PiS politician Adam Hofman, who invited him to a ‘dinner with Zbyszek and Patrycja’ – a euphemism for a supposed informal meeting with Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro and his wife, where the matter was to be ‘clarified’.
On 15 April 2025, the District Prosecutor’s Office in Lublin confirmed that an investigation had been launched into allegations of abuse of power, coercion of testimony, and actions detrimental to both the public interest – understood as the proper functioning of the justice system – and private interests. According to spokesperson Agnieszka Kępka, the proceedings were formally initiated on 17 March 2025 based on an offence notification submitted by the authorised representative of the Open Dialogue Foundation. The offences under investigation carry a potential penalty of up to 15 years’ imprisonment.
The complaint listed a wide array of potential crimes committed in connection with the prosecution of Przemysław Krych and Stanisław Kogut, including:
- Extortion of bribes through blackmail (unlawful threats);
- Fabrication of evidence;
- False accusations;
- Fraudulently obtaining judicial approval for surveillance operations (illegal wiretapping);
- Disclosure of confidential CBA operations to Krzysztof Porowski;
- Pressure exerted during the investigation (including coercion of testimony by officers) on Grzegorz Kogut, the late senator’s son;
- Activities of an organised criminal group allegedly involving, among others, Zbigniew Ziobro, Bogdan Święczkowski, Grzegorz Ocieczek, Krzysztof Porowski, and Adam Hofman.
Onet was the first outlet to break the news of the investigation. As Bartosz Kramek commented,
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‘For several years, we’ve been monitoring politically motivated abuses of power. Central to these have been malicious proceedings, including criminal cases. We’ve published an extensive report on the subject and have consistently called for a comprehensive audit. In this effort, we’ve cooperated with business associations and the Economic Freedom Foundation. This particular case was among the most shocking and scandalous we’ve encountered.
It is political for three reasons: the targeting and destruction of Senator Kogut; the attempted coercion of testimony against the mayors of Poland’s largest cities; and Porowski’s corrupt proposal.
What we witnessed was a systemic pattern of corruption and eastern-style corporate raiding at the highest echelons of power. When it comes to officials like Grzegorz Ocieczek and Michał Cichy [Editor’s note: Head of the Kraków branch of the CBA, who oversaw the operation against Krych], who never faced consequences for their roles in the death of Barbara Blida, this is a repeat offence. In Silesia – the stronghold of Ziobro’s loyalists in the prosecution and security services – all the threads come together. Impunity breeds impudence.’
On 14 April 2025, Bartosz Kramek also extensively addressed the case on platform X.
Read also:
- Report: Polish Public Prosecutor’s Office: Restoring Independence and Reviewing Politicised Criminal Cases in Poland (17.02.2025)
- Report: Polish Public Prosecutor’s Office: Selected Cases of Malicious Prosecution and Dereliction of Duties since 2015 (6.10.2023)
- Report: Punishing Philanthropy in Poland: Case of Przemysław Krych (9.06.2023)
In the media:
- TVN24: Prosecutors investigate alleged abuse of power by CBA and ABW (April 15, 2025)
- Gazeta Wyborcza: Investigation launched into alleged blackmail of prominent businessman by security services. Senior PiS-era official involved (April 15, 2025)
- Onet: Did security services blackmail a prominent businessman? New facts revealed (15.04.2025)
- Bankier: Businessman arrested by CBA following refusal to pay bribe. Prosecutors launch investigation (15.04.2025)
- Piotr Surmaczyński z Londynu: Is it possible to dismantle the PiS power structure? (15.04.2025)
- GOV.pl/Prokuratura Okręgowa w Lublinie: Proceedings initiated following a notification from the Open Dialogue Foundation regarding a suspected offence during an investigation conducted by the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Katowice (15.04.2025)
- Wirtualna Polska: Businessman alleges blackmail amid claims of high-level corruption (14.04.2025)
