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Polish justice minister expects more people will be detained in corruption probe

PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek 29.11.2017 08:30
Poland's justice minister expects more people will be detained in a probe into corruption in the courts after seven court administrators were detained by police and sacked by the justice ministry on Monday.
Photo: Joe Gratz (Public Domain)Photo: Joe Gratz (Public Domain)

Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro told public broadcaster TVP that a crime ring, including the director, head accountant and purchasing manager of a Kraków court of appeals, “stole” PLN 35 million (EUR 8 million) from the court.

He said the court had commissioned services such as analyses and reports to external companies which in turn contracted the court's staff to write them.

Because each report was worth less than EUR 30,000, tender proceedings were not necessary.

But police said they did not find any evidence of the reports that the court staff was commissioned to write, suggesting that the deals between the court and the companies may have been phoney.

Ziobro said that the “corruption group” had felt it was above the law because they had the backing of “the most important people in the judiciary”.

He said that several dozen people had been dismissed, including seven court directors and three court presidents who faced corruption charges.

He added that the exact numbers were “so big that it's hard to remember, especially because the inquiry is ongoing and more people have been marked for detainment and dismissal”.

He also said the former president of the Kraków appeals court faced charges of participation in organised crime, money laundering and receiving bribes. (vb/pk)

Source: IAR

tags: crime, judiciary
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