Polish prosecution froze PLN 1 mln collected in a smart scheme

The Polish prosecution has frozen the bank account of 24-year-old Alessandro G. from Suwalki, who had managed to raised more than PLN 1 mln from Polish entrepreneurs for subscribing to a share call of his own making, the Polish media reported in march 2014.

“I recently set up my sole-proprietorship, and just after I registered it in the official registry I received a letter offering to list my new company on the “National Information Registry of Entrepreneurs”, along with an attached invoice for a total of PLN 110 (EUR 30),” a Polish citizen by the name of Marek said when he first reported the issue to the Polish media.

“The letter seemed official  and my initial impulse was to pay it, but I then contacted my accountant and she told me it was a private company and not any official registry,” Marek concluded.

Alessandro G. allegedly sent such letters to new entrepreneurs, in which he feigned to run an official registry of companies and that subscription to this registry was compulsory and payable PLN 110.

The affair began in 2012 when the prosecution launched an official investigation into Alessandro G. and his business following a series of publications in the press. Alessandro G. was indicted in the end of 2012 but he did not plead guilty. Now, there will shortly be a final hearing in the District Court of Suwalki where Alessandro G. will hear his sentence.

Similar schemes have recently been  observed with increasing frequency, although the scenarios often vary.  Some companies offer a well-paid and but undemanding job, but only after making a payment to an indicated bank account. Others appear to be sent from a court-appointed bailiff and demand an instant payment of outstanding debts. What these scams have in common is that these companies have fictitious addresses (there is no headquarters office just a simple PO box), which are usually located in a different city than the bank account to which the money is to be transferred.