On 24 February 2025, the prosecutor from the Lower Silesian division of the PZ PK referred an indictment to the District Court in Jelenia Góra against 79-year-old Romuald Ł. and 72-year-old Zbigniew K. – The men have been charged with the murder, committed for robbery, on 21 January 1992 in Zgorzelec of exchange-office employee Cezary Ł. and the attempted murder of exchange-office owner Grzegorz C. – explains prosecutor Katarzyna Calów-Jaszewska from the Press Division of the National Prosecutor’s Office. – They also took approximately 1 billion old Polish zlotys in cash with the intention of appropriating it.

Romuald Ł. was charged with committing the act in the form of so-called directing perpetration.

What did investigators establish?

On 21 January 1992 in Zgorzelec, two masked men, after previously surveilling the currency exchange office located in the Centrum Department Store on Okrzei Street, fired shots from firearms at Cezary Ł. and Grzegorz C., who left the exchange office at around 6:00 p.m. with the day’s takings in a leather bag.

The investigation established that the idea and initiative for the incident came from Romuald Ł., alias Szakal. Prosecutor: – On the day of the incident, Romuald Ł. was in Zgorzelec and surveilled the area around the exchange office. He also provided Józef S. and Zbigniew K. with two pistols and ammunition, arranged a hideout for them, and had a decisive influence on the division of the loot after the crime was committed.

One of the bullets fired pierced Cezary Ł.’s left arm and lungs, causing acute respiratory and circulatory failure and, consequently, his death (21 January 1992).

The accused took the leather bag containing cash—approximately 1 billion old Polish zlotys—then fled the scene and hid in Zgorzelec.

Both accused had previously been convicted by the courts multiple times and had served lengthy prison sentences. In addition, Zbigniew K. had twice been convicted of attempting to murder a total of three people.

What were the grounds for reopening the investigation, which had initially been discontinued?

Spokeswoman:

The investigation in this case was initially conducted under the supervision of the District Prosecutor’s Office in Jelenia Góra. Due to the accused persons’ brutal method of operation, including the use of firearms and balaclavas during the attack, as well as the fact that both men fled the scene, the case attracted media attention and was also featured on the television programme “997” in February 1992. Despite large-scale investigative and detection efforts, as well as a cash reward for information that could lead to the arrest of Romuald Ł. and Zbigniew K., the investigation was discontinued on 26 June 1992 because the perpetrators had not been identified.

She adds:

In the course of procedural activities recently carried out under Article 327 § 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure by officers of the Department for Combating Organized Criminal Crime of the Wrocław Branch of the Central Police Investigation Bureau, conducted under the supervision of a prosecutor from the Lower Silesian division of the PZ PK, new information was obtained that provided the basis for reopening the discontinued investigation.

She further explains:

During the investigation, the case files were reviewed and procedural activities were carried out with the participation of a number of people. The evidence gathered in the case and the findings made on its basis provided grounds for bringing charges against two people in connection with the robbery, the murder of Cezary Ł. and the attempted murder of Grzegorz C.

What do the accused face?

Under the 1969 code, the acts with which the accused were charged were punishable by death. However, due to the moratorium on executions introduced in 1995 and the subsequent abolition of the death penalty, the accused now face life imprisonment.