Polish bank owner accused of cheating clients, justice minister says
21/09/2020 14:23
WARSAW, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Bank owner and billionaire
Leszek Czarnecki is accused by prosecutors of cheating clients
of Idea Bank IDE.WA and exposing the lender to a significant
loss, Poland's Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said on Monday.
Polish state prosecutors have filed a motion to arrest
Czarnecki and a Warsaw court on Friday said it would consider
the matter next month, sending shares in his holding company and
two banks he controls sharply lower. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2GF2M7
Czarnecki is the majority shareholder in Idea Bank and the
head of its supervisory board.
Ziobro said on Monday that if the court decides to detain
Czarnecki, Poland will issue an international arrest warrant
because he is abroad. The crime Czarnecki is accused of can be
punished with 15 years in prison, he added.
Last year Poland's antimonopoly office said that Idea Bank
misled clients when selling them bonds issued by debt collector
GetBack. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N24X6PC Idea Bank sold GetBack in March 2016.
Roman Giertych, Czarnecki's lawyer and a former politician
said that Ziobro's accusations are grotesque and are related to
media speculations that he might be dismissed as a result of
tensions in the ruling coalition.
"The absurdity of the allegations is additionally
illustrated by the fact that my client supervises over a dozen
large companies, including many banks. However, he has never
been on the management board of GetBack or on the Supervisory
Board of this company," Giertych said in a statement.
GetBack ran into trouble in 2018 when it purchased large
portfolios of distressed debt at higher prices than its
competitors, funding this with short-term bond issues.
The court opened an accelerated restructuring procedure for
GetBack, while the financial market regulator submitted a notice
of offence to the prosecutor's office in relation to the
company's activities.
Idea Bank said that it wants all issues related to GetBack
and its financial instruments to be analysed and explained.
"Idea Bank is operating without any disturbance. We remain
in contact with the supervision authorities...," the bank's
press office said.
($1 = 3.7994 zlotys)
(Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk,
additional reporting by Marcin Goclowski; Editing by Kirsten
Donovan)
((agnieszka.barteczko@thomsonreuters.com; +48226539700; Reuters
Messaging: agnieszka.barteczko.reuters.com@thomsonreuters.net))