Anna Dereszowska and Cinkciarz.pl. “To this day, the money has not been returned to me”

“I thought about publishing this information for a long time. But in the face of a situation in which many people may still be exposed to unfair practices every day and, as a consequence, possibly lose their funds, I decided that I should do it,” wrote actress Anna Dereszowska in a post posted on Instagram .

As she said, she has a mortgage loan in a foreign currency and has been repaying it “for years” using the services of the online currency exchange office Cinkciarz.pl. She pointed out that “the company seemed credible not only because of its many years of activity on the market, thousands of customers using its services, but also its numerous involvement in sponsoring many large entities and sports clubs, including the Polish basketball team and the Chicago Bulls club.”

Then the actress wrote that on November 5 this year she deposited “a significant amount of Polish zlotys in order to exchange them for euros” to an online currency exchange account. However, like many other people, the actress did not get her money back.

“To this day, the money has not been returned to me. Contact with Cinkciarz.pl is very difficult, and (the company) does not respond to requests to return the paid funds,” we can read in the entry.

“I tried to call both contact numbers several times, but after waiting several hours for the connection (even 9 hours!), I heard in the receiver 'you are waiting number 2' and the countdown stopped there, and despite waiting for the next few hours I did not move the queue. Contact via Skype does not work at all,” wrote Dereszowska.

The actress noted that “the website seems to be fully functional and, unaware of the problems Cinkciarz.pl is in, a customer like me can deposit money without any problems, but it is possible that he will not get it back, as he has place in my case.

Anna Dereszowska also informed that she “has already entered court” with Cinkciarz.pl and called on the currency exchange office “to fairly end the dispute with me and other injured parties.”

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Marcin Starkowski, a representative of Cinkciarz.pl, said in response to our questions that “all currency exchange transactions will be completed.” “We sincerely apologize to all customers, including Mrs. Anna, for the delays. We are constantly working to restore full functionality,” he wrote.

“Since the beginning of Cinkciarz.pl's operations (2010), banks systematically and deliberately blocked our company's financial resources, keeping over PLN 1.4 billion in various currencies, such as euros, dollars and British pounds. The banks' refusals and delays in executing transactions were striking. to the financial liquidity of Cinkciarz.pl and undermined the principles of fair competition on the Polish financial market,” Starkowski said.

He further pointed out that “the direct reason for the company's current difficult situation is the fact that in mid-May 2024 the Polish Financial Supervision Authority forced Conotoxia sp. z o. o. to resign from cooperation with the current agent – Cinkciarz.pl sp. user deposits and withdrawals. We would like to point out that the reason for the withdrawal of the authorization was not so much the violation of the regulations, but a radical and unjustified change in the approach of the Commission, which had not been implemented over the years. raised objections to the method of storing customer funds. The implementation of the requirements imposed by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority resulted in the need for a complete reconstruction of the IT infrastructure used by the company, in fact it turned the entire company's operations upside down.

“We are doing everything in our power to settle the arrears and eliminate technical problems as quickly as possible. We have filed a complaint to the Provincial Administrative Court against the decision of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority. We also announce legal actions in the United States. We are taking all possible actions to enforce our rights, stop the effects of the destructive decisions of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority and withdraw them from trading,” Starkowski said.

At the beginning of October, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority announced that it was taking action following customer complaints regarding the provision of currency exchange services by the Cinkciarz.pl currency exchange office. Too UOKiK said it had received customer complaints about the company. Customers of the currency exchange office reported delays in currency exchange and money transfers. They were informed by Cinkciarz.pl about the defect, which should be repaired by the end of October.

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Then, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority withdrew the authorization to provide payment services to Conotoxia, operating through the agents Cinkciarz.pl and Cinkciarz.pl Marketing. It was then explained that the consequences of the decision would include, among others: deletion of the company and its agents from the register of payment service providers. In practice, Cinkciarz.pl is no longer able to offer services involving the transfer of funds, e.g. to the account of its foreign contractor or a mortgage repayment account at a bank. Cinkciarz.pl informed that it was taking legal steps to repeal the Commission's decision as soon as possible. In October, Cinkciarz.pl and Conotoxia sp. z o. o. and Conotoxia Ltd. announced lawsuits against the following banks: BPS, BOŚ, Credit Agricole, ING, Millenium, Getin Bank, mBank, Citibank and SGB. The currency exchange office argued that these banks denied him access to their currency platforms, which made it impossible to conclude currency exchange transactions with them, and accused them of “bank collusion”. In November, the online currency exchange office announced in a press release that it would transform into a joint-stock company and submit an application for a banking license in the EU, which – as he indicated – would enable it to introduce a full range of banking services. The company also assured that after obtaining a banking license, all of its clients' funds will be protected by the Bank Guarantee Fund, “which will guarantee the highest level of security.”

In response to this announcement, the KNF announced that “Cinkciarz.pl or its related entities” did not apply to the Commission for permission to establish a domestic bank, so the KNF does not conduct any proceedings as a result of which such a permission could be issued. In turn, BFG informed that Cinkciarz.pl is not a domestic bank and customer funds entrusted to the company are not covered by the Fund's guarantees. He also noted that deposits collected in banks based in EU countries other than Poland are guaranteed by the deposit guarantee schemes native to these countries.

At the end of November, Cinkciarz.pl offered its clients a settlement guaranteeing the return of 100 percent of the entrusted funds within the agreed period plus statutory interest. It was added that this is an offer for people “looking for additional security”.