From April 2021 to November 2023, Danuta Dmowska-Andrzejuk – the former Minister of Sport – was employed as an advisor to the management board of Totalizator Sportowy. This is a state-owned company that is, among other things, the organizer of the LOTTO lottery. In recent days Virtual Poland announced that the company's new management conducted an audit that uncovered numerous irregularities. Among them was the employment of the former Minister of Law and Justice.
The Big Scandal Surrounding the Former Minister of Sports. “Meeting Financial Needs”
During the aforementioned period, Dmowska-Andrzejuk was supposed to earn exactly PLN 438,615.8 (approx. PLN 14.5 thousand per month) in the position she held. There is, however, one problem. “Due to the results of the analysis of employee activity, there is a reasonable suspicion that the conclusion of the employment contract was fictitious. The contract does not indicate the scope of the employee's duties, and there are no documents that would confirm that she was commissioned to perform any activities during this period,” said the current management of the company, which notified the prosecutor's office of the possibility of a crime being committed by the then president, Olgierd Cieślik.
“Based on the data obtained during the analysis, it can be assumed that she was absent from work for a total of 483 days,” it added, accusing the former sports minister of fictitious performance of duties that were allegedly not written in her contract. Moreover, no documents confirming Danuta Dmowska-Andrzejuk's activity at Totalizator Sportowy in 2021-2023 were found.
In addition, in its notification, the State Treasury Company included information that “as a result of the analysis of Danuta Dmowska-Andrzejuk's employee activity, it should be assumed that her employment was aimed solely at meeting her financial needs, without taking into account the employer's interest.” There is also a conflict of interest issue due to her activities as president of SuperLiga SA, which she held from November 5, 2021 to September 1, 2023.
What does Olgierd Cieślik have to say about this? “The employment of Ms. Danuta Dmowska-Andrzejuk as an advisor to the management board was carried out in accordance with the procedures in force in the company and in full compliance with the applicable provisions of law. This employment was aimed at supporting Totalizator Sportowy in the implementation of strategic projects, including the promotion of TS products through sports and cooperation with external partners,” replied the former president, quoted by WP.
Dmowska-Andrzejuk herself also spoke out about the whole mess. According to the 42-year-old, her employment “was a fact, not fiction”. The former PiS government minister invokes the company's confidentiality clause, which is why she does not refuse to answer specific questions. “Considering my experience as a competitor (I am an individual world champion in epee) and in public, including as a two-time minister of sport, I believe that this is a sufficient recommendation for the position of advisor, especially in a company whose basic statutory tasks include investing in sport,” she adds.
At the same time, the new authorities of the State Treasury Company in question claim that the actions related to her employment “caused significant property damage”, which is tantamount to a crime.