Polish mentality favors scheming
One of the principal factors which contribute to increased popularity of white collar crimes is Polish cultural mentality, which favors scheming, was the conclusion of a conference devoted to white collar frauds held in Warsaw on Sept. 25.
“We like scheming, those who scheme impress us because it shows that the person is intelligent,” Marcin Cieminski, Partner at Clifford Chance law firm, said at the conference.
Cultural mentality is only one of the various reasons why white collar crimes in Poland are gaining on popularity, noted Cieminski. Others include prosecutors’ and courts’ tendency to dismiss or take lenient approach to cases which involve financial scams due to drawn-out trials and lengthy investigations which rarely result in recovering the losses.
Additionally, Polish society does not regard financial scams as noxious, therefore prosecutors do not feel the pressure to prioritize this type of criminal offence. Citizens are much more impressed by capturing a local mobster than by uncovering a VAT scam or investigating directors who siphon funds out of a company and into their sole-proprietorships, furthered Cieminski. As a result, prosecutors often turn down investors’ reports on internal frauds, backhanders or siphoning.
Polish businessmen see foreigners as gullible and easy to cheat. Increasing white collar crime rates and prosecutors’ leniency should make investors verify the reputation and the business profile of a future business partner in order to avoid problems. Such checks are usually performed by risk advisories and other consultancies. It is always better to screen your business partner beforehand than to expose your company’s financials to potential threats.
