Polish judges under investigation

Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) is investigating whether judges in southern Polish bankruptcy courts manipulate proceedings in order to achieve favorable decisions for clients, the local media reported June 25.

“The Internal Security Agency is verifying the theory that a group of individuals in Silesia are using their unusually good relationship with judges in order to manipulate legal proceedings,” an anonymous source told Polish daily, Puls Biznesu.

Bankruptcy departments in Katowice and Gliwice, are allegedly cooperating with a group of people who influence court proceedings. This results in company boards getting favorable court decisions and intermediaries being awarded considerable compensation.

Following a report from the Justice Ministry in 2012, two judges were commissioned to investigate insolvency procedures in Katowice and Gliwice.

One of the investigations concerned frozen goods distributor Jago. Documents from December 2012 indicated that an expert witness pointed to a dubious change of address just prior to the launch of insolvency proceedings. This resulted in the company changing court jurisdiction to Gliwice, which was followed by a favourable court ruling.

The witness also indicated that alleged similar changes of address occurred at two other companies, which shared affiliations with Jago: construction companies Mostostal Chojnice and Rondo-Bau-Konstrukcje.

The Jago case subsequently ended with a settlement despite the testimony of an expert who stated that Jago had seen no profit for three years. It was not equipped for a settlement.