The District Prosecutor’s Office in Złotoryja filed an indictment in December 2025 against 40-year-old Michał G., currently living in Germany, for fraud and obtaining a total of PLN 5,280 from 79 people who had been misled. The case concerns G.’s organization of two fundraisers in which he claimed that he had cancer and needed money for a procedure, whereas in reality he was not seriously ill and the procedure was not necessary.

– On March 7, 2024, Michał G. organized a fundraiser on the zrzutka.pl service under the title “Procedure.” In the description, he stated that he had been admitted to hospital—which was true—where he had learned that he had colorectal cancer. He also stated that because he worked abroad and, unfortunately, the procedure was not reimbursed, he was PLN 20,000 short of the full amount – says Liliana Łukasiewicz of the District Prosecutor’s Office in Legnica. – The organizer’s details were verified by a transfer made from a bank account and an identity document, namely a scan of an identity card.

On May 3, 2024, the accused organized another fundraiser on the same service—but under the title “Operation.” He provided the same information there. The spokesperson said: – This time, however, he claimed that he was PLN 2,500 short of the procedure.

Dozens of people defrauded

In total, from March 7 to April 10, 2024, 69 people responded to his appeal, paying amounts ranging from PLN 10, through PLN 20 and PLN 50, to as much as PLN 100—PLN 4,420 altogether. Ten people responded to the subsequent fundraiser, paying PLN 860 between May 14 and 20, 2024.

During the investigation, an expert medical opinion was obtained, which unequivocally stated that the conditions diagnosed in the accused were not cancerous diseases. Medical records from two hospitalizations ruled out Michał G.’s suffering from colorectal cancer.

Prosecutor L. Łukasiewicz:

When questioned as a suspect, the aforementioned man did not admit to the crime. He confirmed that he had set up the fundraiser, but argued that he had acted in the belief that he had cancer, which doctors had allegedly told him about.

She added: – The aforementioned man was also charged with another fraud, committed on December 29, 2023, when he misled a married couple from whom he purchased, by notarial deed, a share in real estate worth PLN 300,000, constituting property of considerable value, by providing false information about his ability to pay for the acquired property, since at the time he expressed his intention and concluded the sale agreement, he did not have the financial resources to cover the purchase price.

Regarding the fraud allegation connected with the acquisition of the property, G. explained that he had counted on receiving accident compensation with the help of a person he had met in Germany.

The accused, who had previously been convicted, faces up to 10 years in prison. Investigators said:

The accused has secondary education and no profession. He is currently employed as a courier in Germany. During the proceedings, police supervision and property security in the form of a compulsory mortgage on his property were applied to Michał G.

The District Court in Legnica will decide the case.