A former minister, Włodzimierz Karpiński, who served in Poland’s previous left-liberal government from 2013 to 2015 has been arrested on suspicion that he accepted a €1.07 million bribe in a case involving 13 other suspects
Karpiński, who was the treasury minister in Poland’s Civic Platform (PO) government, was charged with accepting a bribe by the Silesian branch of the National Prosecutor’s Office. In early February, the former deputy minister of the treasury in Donald Tusk’s governemnt, Rafał Baniak, was also charged in the same investigation. A total of 14 people are suspected in this case.
Karpiński denies the allegations, and his defense plans to appeal the decision. His representative says he is “facing false accusations from co-suspects.”
After accepting a request from prosecutors, the district court in the southern city of Katowice ordered a 90-day detention for Karpiński.
According to Tomasz Tadla, the head of the Silesian branch of the National Prosecutor’s Office in Katowice, the charges leveled against Karpinski relate to events that occurred between April 2020 and December 2022, when he was president of the board of the Warsaw Municipal Cleaning Company.
Recently, Karpiński worked as a secretary of the Capital City of Warsaw. After the news of his arrest, Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski suspended Karpiński from his position. Karpiński’s case has a political element because Warsaw is controlled by the liberal opposition.
Prosecutor Tadla added that individuals among the 14 suspects in this case will be held responsible for various crimes, including participating in and leading an organized criminal group.
“A certain stage of this case, which also concerns the giving and taking of property benefits, as well as invoking influence in various local government institutions, has been completed,” informed the prosecutor.
