The Lwówek Śląski District Prosecutor’s Office has submitted successful requests to the local District Court for the three-month pretrial detention of five people accused of crimes mainly involving the concealment of illegal excise goods.
At the end of May, police searched a property in Zgorzelec County and found 75,000 cigarettes without Polish excise stamps, as well as €370,000 in cash.
They detained 64-year-old Tadeusz B. and his 62-year-old wife, Jadwiga B., as well as their 39-year-old son, Robert B.
“After being brought to the Lwówek Śląski District Prosecutor’s Office, all three were charged with concealing excise goods originating from smuggling,” says prosecutor Tomasz Czułowski, press spokesman for the Jelenia Góra Regional Prosecutor’s Office. “They were also charged with so-called money laundering. According to preliminary findings, the money discovered in the apartment probably came from a fiscal offense. The suspects stored it and put it into circulation as part of a business operated by one of them.
They also detained 36-year-old Robert Z. Prosecutor T. Czułowski said: “The man attempted to bribe the officers by offering them a financial benefit in exchange for abandoning the search of a property belonging to the B. family.”
The spokesman added:
As part of the proceedings, police also searched a property in the same town occupied by 47-year-old Natalia G. The woman was growing six cannabis plants other than hemp. She possessed 7.5 grams of cannabis herb and more than 4 grams of methamphetamine.
G. faces between six months and as much as eight years in prison. The other suspects could be imprisoned for up to ten years.
Investigators:
The discovered €370,000 was subject to asset security measures, as were the PLN 24,600 seized from Robert Z. and the PLN 6,070 belonging to Natalia G.
The case was taken over for further investigation by the Economic Crime Division of the Jelenia Góra Regional Prosecutor’s Office.