Former chairman of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF), Marek Chrzanowski, answered the auditors' questions at the headquarters of the Supreme Audit Office on Tuesday.
The audit plan covering the activities of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority is included in the document “Work plan of the Supreme Audit Office for 2024” published on the NIK website. The inspections carried out by the budget and finance department included an examination of “the activities of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, the National Prosecutor and the Minister of Justice and the units subordinated to and supervised by them in combating abuses and crimes on the financial market.”
As we read on the NIK website, the question defining the main objective of the audit is “whether the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, the National Prosecutor and the Minister of Justice, as well as the units subordinated to and supervised by them, took reliable and correct actions to combat abuses and crimes on the financial market?”. According to the schedule, the inspection is to be carried out by the fourth quarter of 2024.
According to the official announcements of the Chamber, the Supreme Audit Office is monitoring the supervision of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority over GetBack and VeloBank, which was established as a result of the forced restructuring of Getin Noble Bank controlled by Leszek Czarnecki.
The Polish Financial Supervision Authority scandal
Marek Chrzanowski is the former head of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority. He lost his position in 2018 due to the so-called KNF scandal.
On November 13, 2018, “Gazeta Wyborcza” published an article titled “40 million and there will be no problems”. Its subject is a conversation in which the then head of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, Marek Chrzanowski (he agreed to give his full name) offered a deal to the owner of Getin Noble Bank, Leszek Czarnecki. The latter claims that in return for the favour, the head of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority expected the employment of the indicated lawyer with a remuneration of approximately PLN 40 million. This person was supposed to be Grzegorz Kowalczyk, a legal advisor from Częstochowa. In 2013, he joined the supervisory board of the Warsaw Stock Exchange, formally proposed by the PKO BP bank.
Czarnecki recorded the conversation, but Chrzanowski's statement about the amount was not included. According to the businessman, Chrzanowski allegedly showed him a piece of paper on which he wrote down 1 percent, which was supposed to be part of the capitalized value of Czarnecki's bank. The businessman valued it at approximately PLN 40 million. The meeting described by “Gazeta Wyborcza” between Leszek Czarnecki, who controls the bank, and Marek Chrzanowski, the head of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, was supposed to take place on March 28 this year. On behalf of the banker, his attorney filed a report to the prosecutor's office Roman Giertych. He did it more than half a year after the conversation, i.e. on November 7.
On the day of publication of the “GW” material, in the afternoon Marek Chrzanowski resigned, which was accepted. On November 27, 2018, he was arrested by CBA. In the Silesian department of the National Prosecutor's Office, he was charged with exceeding his powers in connection with the conversation with Czarnecki.
The indictment against Chrzanowski was brought to court in December 2019, the first hearing took place in November 2023.
According to “Gazeta Wyborcza” reports from June this year, the former head of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority “failed” in four polygraph tests during the investigation.
“An expert in the field of polygraph tests was appointed to conduct forensic tests on the unconscious control of the body's reactions. In the issued opinion, the expert stated that Marek Chrzanowski, when answering the questions 'Did you suggest in writing to Czarnecki the percentage of Kowalczyk's remuneration?'” 'Did he write at the meeting with Czarnecki Do you know the percentage relating to Kowalczyk's remuneration?' he reacted in a way that is usually observed in people who respond insincerely, i.e. contrary to their knowledge“- wrote “GW”.
Questions for Chrzanowski
After leaving the Supreme Audit Office building, Marek Chrzanowski, when asked by a TVN24 reporter about the KNF scandal, replied that the case was in court and he would not comment on it.
When asked if he felt innocent in this case, he replied: – Yes.
Main photo source: TVN24