The former head of Poland’s financial regulator Marek Chrzanowski was detained earlier in November after being at the epicentre of an anti-corruption investigation in which he was forced to resign amid allegations that he solicited a bribe from Leszek Czarnecki, the owner of Poland’s Getin Noble Bank.
Czarnecki is one of Poland’s richest men and was offered favourable treatment in return for a kickback by Chrzanowski, who apparently proposed that the former re-hire a specific lawyer to represent Getin Noble Bank, who should be paid a fee worth 1% of the lenders’ capitalisation in exchange for “protection.”
Chrzanowski’s arrest follows the questioning of 11 witnesses and the confiscation of documents, electronic equipment and data carriers, though he continues to deny any wrongdoing. He admits that a specific lawyer was proposed as “an option,” but denied that specific remuneration had been discussed.
