Leszek Socha comments on the latest reports in connection with the article “Former head of Telewizja Bolesławiec arrested and temporarily detained. Investigation concerns millions from flood aid”.
As we learn, Socha writes, the former head of Telewizja Bolesławiec apparently felt afflicted by a natural disaster, which also earned him police adornments on his wrists.
People are part of nature, so naturally they want to acquire wealth with as little effort as possible. Such aspirations are increasingly visible also among politicians and officials. Why do I link these two professional groups? Because fewer and fewer people enter public administration jobs without political backing. True, we hear slogans about moving away from nepotism, cronyism and family connections, but these are merely declarations. At the same time, in my opinion, the involvement of oversight services, including ABW and the police, has declined. Legal regulations create opportunities for corrupt behavior while simultaneously justifying the siphoning of public money into places more friendly to private pockets, of course under the banner of “pro publico bono”.
For years I have claimed that the boundaries between what is private and what is public are becoming blurred. Organizations and companies are emerging that almost specialize in using public funds in a way that, to put it mildly, is not very transparent. Commercial-law companies, foundations and associations absorb public funds and remain outside strict social and institutional oversight. In these institutions, a significant proportion of the staff comes from political appointments. I do not specify political affiliations, because the problem concerns the entire political scene. If, however, a person or group appears that opposes this state of affairs, it automatically encounters ostracism.
As I mentioned, I worked as a police officer dealing with economic crime, with considerable success. As a practitioner, I also know that, by the nature of this type of crime, it is not possible for one person to commit it alone. So what are we dealing with in this case? When I hear that the former head of Telewizja Bolesławiec is the only person implicated, I lose faith in the system of state safeguards protecting society against such practices—although, in truth, I lost it long ago.
Because an ordinary citizen is treated completely differently. Recently, I made a larger purchase and had to deposit part of my savings into an account. The woman at the counter questioned me in detail about where I got them, explaining that it was because of the anti-money-laundering law.
I drive a truck, and that is dirty work—a person gets dirty while loading and unloading, so the money may indeed “get picked up”. I did not launder the money, unless I accidentally left it in my work trousers and it went through the washing machine. In the case of a flood, the money is clean because the water washed it, so there is no need to check it.
Wherever a Pole looks, someone somewhere is pocketing public money. I have a question: where is it? If law enforcement and the justice system have established that someone managed public funds and misappropriated them, why do they not return to the state or local government treasury? Why do the rules applying to ordinary people not apply to politicians and officials? Someone pocketed the money and has it. The people are supposed to work and pay taxes—several times on the same earned zloty—while the money disappears there, and the criminal has lawyers and grievances.
Funny situation, isn’t it? Despite the amusement, I call for society to wake up and take its money seriously. Politicians, meanwhile, should be judged by what they have done, not by what they say they will do.