Polish prosecutor indicts former head of financial regulator
09/01/2020 17:35
WARSAW, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Poland's state prosecutor has
indicted the former head of the country's financial regulator on
corruption charges, in one of the most prominent cases of
alleged corruption in the European Union member state in recent
years.
A spokeswoman for the prosecutor said on Thursday the
indictment of Marek Chrzanowski was sent to a court on Dec. 31.
Chrzanowski, who was appointed by the ruling Law and Justice
(PiS) party to run the regulator, was charged in 2018 with
corruption, leading to a drop in shares of Polish banks and to
criticism of PiS. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1XY457
PiS has long campaigned on a promise to root out corruption
in what it describes as self-interested liberal elites.
The indictment was first reported by Polish daily Gazeta
Wyborcza. There is no requirement in Poland to inform the public
when indictments are filed.
Leszek Czarnecki, the owner of mid-sized Polish lender Getin
Noble Bank GNB.WA and Getin Holding GTN.WA , had accused
Chrzanowski of demanding payments of millions of dollars to a
lawyer for "support", prompting an official investigation.
Chrzanowski has denied the allegations. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1XY457
A spokesman for the financial regulator and a spokesman for
Getin Holding GTN.WA declined to comment.
The office of Chrzanowski's lawyer did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko, Marcin Goclowski and Anna
Koper, Writing by Joanna Plucinska; Editing by Mark Potter)
((Joanna.Plucinska@thomsonreuters.com; 0048226539722;))