Polish prosecutors investigate crypto firm’s links to conservative opposition politicians and organisations

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Prosecutors are investigating possible criminal offences relating to financing by Zondacrypto, a cryptocurrency firm that collapsed earlier this year, of organisations and individuals linked to Poland’s right-wing opposition.

Among those named in an announcement by prosecutor general Waldemar Żurek, who also serves as justice minister, are Zbigniew Ziobro, a deputy leader of Law and Justice (PiS), the main opposition party, and the Polish edition of CPAC, an American conservative political conference.

Meanwhile, a lawyer representing Przemysław Kral, who was Zondacrypto’s head when it collapsed, has revealed that his client is cooperating with prosecutors. That lawyer, Roman Giertych, is also a prominent politician in Poland’s main ruling party, Civic Coalition (KO).

Zondacrypto came under scrutiny in April after customers began reporting being unable to access their funds. By late July, prosecutors had received several thousand notifications of suspected criminal activity connected with the exchange. Potential losses have been estimated at at least 350 million zloty (€81.4 million).

In a statement published on Tuesday, Żurek said investigators had secured extensive evidence, questioned numerous witnesses, and carried out proceedings involving suspects who have already been formally charged, though he declined to identify them or disclose the charges.

However, he added that there had now been a “breakthrough in the investigation”, including “looking into illegal financial flows towards politicians and entities associated with them”.

Żurek revealed that, “based on the evidence secured in the case, the prosecutor’s office is verifying information…regarding the possibility of crimes being committed in connection with the financing by Zondacrypto of” individuals and entities associated with the right-wing opposition.

They included the foundations of Ziobro and Przemysław Wipler, a former PiS politician now associated with Confederation (Konfederacja), a far-right group; conservative broadcaster Republika and its head, Tomasz Sakiewicz; the CPAC conference; and Radosław Piesiewicz, head of the Polish Olympic Committee.

CPAC and the Olympic committee were previously sponsored by Zondacrypto, while Republika sold extensive advertising space to the crypto firm.

Żurek also said they were investigating potential financing by Zondacrypto of actions taken by individuals who helped fugitive former PiS deputy justice minister Marcin Romanowski.

Both Ziobro, who served as justice minister when PiS was in power, and Romanowski are currently on the run from criminal charges in a separate case.

They were initially given asylum by Hungary, then in May Ziobro fled to the United States. Romanowski’s current location is not confirmed, but he is believed to be in Transnistria, the pro-Russian breakaway region of Moldova.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Giertych confirmed that he was the defence counsel for Kral, who reportedly fled Poland after reports of wrongdoing at Zondacrytpo began to emerge.

In an interview with state broadcaster TVP, Giertych said that his client is “cooperating with the justice system as best he can” and that his “motive is to mitigate his sentence”.

Giertych is himself an MP for KO, the centrist party led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Giertych has previously acted as a lawyer for Tusk as well as members of his family. Kral had previously been represented by Bartosz Lewandowski, a lawyer who represents Ziobro and Romanowski.

Giertych told TVP that he had been representing Kral pro bono since May. “I made a commitment to my voters that I would hold PiS to account,” he said. “Drawing people out from that side is the most effective way of holding them to account.”

In response to yesterday’s developments, Ziobro, in an interview with Niezależna, a news website also run by Sakiewicz, confirmed that his foundation had received 450,000 zloty from Kral’s law firm.

“Zondcrypto collaborated with major media outlets, sports clubs, social organisations and other reputable entities…All of this created the image of a large, legally operating enterprise,” said Ziobro, adding that he refused to accept any further money when public doubts arose about the company.

Ziobro accused the current authorities of being too lenient towards Kral because he had “become politically useful”. “This is the desperation of a regime fighting for its own future impunity…This is being done even at the expense of the victims and the recovery of their money,” Ziobro said.

On Tuesday, Sakiewicz noted that, while Zondacrypto had bought advertising on Republika, it had also done so with many other media outlets. He claimed that Kral was now “under the thumb of the current authorities” and “will say whatever is convenient” to get out of his “difficult situation”.

The Zondacrypto case has become entangled in a wider political dispute, with senior government officials alleging that the company had links to illicit financial networks and that money associated with it was used to support political and public initiatives connected to the right-wing opposition.

During a speech in parliament in April, Prime Minister Donald Tusk alleged that the company’s financial success was “rooted not only in Russian money linked to…one of Russia’s most powerful mafia groups, but also to the Russian security services”.

The allegations have fed into a broader dispute over cryptocurrency regulation. Opposition-aligned President Karol Nawrocki has vetoed government legislation aimed at introducing tighter regulation of the crypto market three times.

The president argued that the bill threatened citizens’ freedoms and could drive Polish companies abroad. The government, however, said the lack of regulation left consumers vulnerable to unscrupulous operators and without adequate protection.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit:  Kuba Atys / Agencja Wyborcza

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is deputy editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She has written for Clean Energy Wire and The Times, and she hosts her own podcast, The Warsaw Wire, on Poland’s economy and energy sector. She previously worked for Reuters.