On 6 March 2018, at the request of the Jelenia Góra District Prosecutor’s Office, officers from the Wrocław Provincial Police Headquarters arrested a German national who was the president of one of the companies in Kamienna Góra.

The 56-year-old man was then brought before the Jelenia Góra District Prosecutor’s Office, where he was presented with a total of eight charges concerning a series of offences, including using false documents to obtain bank loans, acting to the detriment of the company of which he was management board president, and taking actions to prevent creditors from being satisfied.

Between 2010 and 2014, the suspect submitted applications to three different banks for loans to finance the company’s operations. He submitted a series of the company’s financial documents, including statements, balance sheets, tax returns and others. The documentation contained false data indicating that the company was in good financial condition, was making profits and was solvent. The data presented to each bank differed each time, tailored to the requirements of the various lenders. The documents were then used by the banks to assess the company’s economic and financial situation, resulting in loans being granted to it in a total amount of PLN 2,861,000.

However, a significant portion of the funds from these loans was not used for the purposes for which they had been obtained. The investigation showed that between 2010 and 2015, the suspect siphoned off the company’s assets for purposes unrelated to its business activities, through such actions as cash withdrawals, purchasing apartments and transferring funds to accounts in Germany, where he lived and ran another company. In this way, the company suffered financial damage of no less than PLN 1,832,000 million.

When the banks began pursuing their claims in 2014, enforcement proceedings were initiated. In October 2014, a court enforcement officer appeared at the company’s premises to seize movable property in its possession. Taking advantage of the fact that three of the company’s vehicles were not on its premises at that time, the suspect instructed the chief accountant to prepare backdated invoices purporting to show that the vehicles had previously been sold to other people. The value of the vehicles was estimated at no less than PLN 100,000. This constituted an attempt to prevent enforcement of a court ruling and satisfaction of creditors.

The company’s actual financial condition was very poor; the investigation showed that it had been in a state threatening bankruptcy since at least 2008. Because he failed to file an application for the company’s bankruptcy despite the existence of grounds to do so, the suspect was also charged with an offence under Article 586 of the Commercial Companies Code.

After being presented with the charges, the suspect denied committing them and gave explanations concerning the case.

The Jelenia Góra District Prosecutor’s Office established that the suspect is also under investigation in Germany, where he is suspected of committing the offence of “money laundering.”

On 7 March 2018, the Jelenia Góra District Prosecutor’s Office submitted an application to the Jelenia Góra District Court for the German national to be remanded in custody for three months from the date of his arrest.

The court agreed with the Prosecutor’s Office that there was a risk of the suspect going into hiding, as well as a threat that he would otherwise unlawfully obstruct the proceedings, and granted the application for temporary detention.

In addition, the Jelenia Góra District Prosecutor’s Office secured property against the criminal measures that the suspect may face, in the form of an obligation to repair the damage and forfeiture of benefits obtained from the offences, by seizing an Audi belonging to the suspect, valued at PLN 50,000, and establishing a compulsory mortgage on his real estate in the amount of PLN 205,000.

The offences of which the suspect is accused are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

Earlier in the case, charges were also brought against the company’s chief accountant, who was allegedly instructed by the management board president to prepare documents containing false data, which the suspect then used.

The investigation is being conducted by the Wrocław Provincial Police Headquarters under the supervision of the Jelenia Góra District Prosecutor’s Office.