Poland: another person detained in corruption affair in Gdansk

A long-time public servant of the Public Utilities Department at the Gdansk City Hall was detained in an ongoing corruption investigation conducted by the Prosecution since mid-2013, the Polish media reported March 4.

“Another employee of the City Hall was detained today in the corruption affair,” said Maciej Lisicki, vice-president for municipal policy, as cited by local newspaper Dziennik Baltycki. “It is hard for us to say whether this case is linked to the other detainments, but we know that this one is associated with events that took place in the same period of time as the others (years 2007-2010). The detainment was a result of cooperation of the City Hall with the law enforcement – or, to be exact, it was our own initiative,” Lisicki concluded.

The detained employee has worked at the Public Utilities Department since 1989. She was presented with corruption charges for allegedly accepting a bribe of PLN 18,000 in exchange for the help she granted in allocating council flats. Although the employee has not been dismissed from work, she is being questioned by the Prosecution.

This detainment was preceded by a number of similar cases and is part of an ongoing investigation into corruption accusations targeted at long-life public servants of the Public Utilities Department of the Gdansk City Hall. At the end of August 2013, two long-term public servants were detained and charged with corruption for reportedly accepting a total of half a million Polish zloty in exchange for providing help in allocating council flats. The Polish media also reported in October 2013 that another employee of the Public Utilities Department was detained and presented with similar charges.

This investigation is ongoing. The Prosecution is following up on more leads to potential corruption instances committed by the Department’s employees.