Former member of the board of Orlen detained. He heard the allegation of failure to fulfill his duties
Detained on Wednesday, a former member of the Management Board of Orlen SA Michał R. heard on Thursday an allegation of failure to supervise and care for the property of Orlen SA – the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw said on Thursday. Michał R. did not confess to the alleged acts and gave explanations.
A press spokesman for the Warsaw Regional Prosecutor's Office, Mateusz Martyniuk, announced that Michał R. heard the allegation of failure to supervise him, ORLEN SA's assets and the interests of the Orlen SA capital group, including OTS GmbH.
Prok. Martyniuk also informed that the prosecutor applied to the suspect Michał R. preventive measures in the form of police supervision, a ban on leaving the country connected with a passport arrest, a ban on contacting the other suspects and a financial surety in the total amount of PLN 3.5 million.
“At the same time, the prosecutor secured the property of the suspect in the total amount of over PLN 10 million in the form of cash in the amount of PLN 8 million, apartments, shares in commercial and gold companies” – added in the announcement.
A spokesman for the prosecutor's office reminded that Michał R. is the fourth person suspected in the investigation of the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw regarding the damage to the detriment of OTS GmbH and Orlen SA companies
“Currently suspicious Filip W. remains temporarily arrested, while suspected Samer A. and Marcin O. are still sought after, and the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw has applied for their extradition, in the case of Samer A. to the United Arab Emirates, and Marcin O. to Switzerland,” said Martyniuk.
Michał R. was detained on Wednesday, on the order of the prosecutor's office, by the Internal Security Agency.
Losses in Orlen at PLN 1.5 billion
The investigation of the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw concerns OTS GmbH and Orlen are damage in the amount of approx. $ 378 million, which is equivalent to approx. PLN 1.5 billion as a result of the conclusion from August 21, 2023 to December 21, 2023, three unfavorable contracts for the purchase of oil.
At the same time, the notification of the General Inspector of Financial Information regarding the suspicion of committing a crime was received. money laundering from the benefits of the damage to the detriment of OTS and Orlen companies and this issue was also covered by the investigation.
Earlier – in December 2024 – in this investigation, the Warsaw District Court decided to detain a former detention of former members of the board of OTS – Samer A. and Marcin O. It turned out that they were both abroad.
At the beginning of January this year. It was informed that in the case there were applications for legal assistance to Switzerland, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. On January 13, 2025, Samer A. was detained on the territory of ZEA.
At the end of January 2025, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Abu Dhabi transferred to the authorities of Zea, a diplomatic path, the prosecutor's request for extradition Samer A. At the end of May, PK addressed questions to the ZAA Ministry and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in ABU in Abu Zabi with conclusions about informing about the current stage of the extraditional procedure against Samer A.
In turn – as PAP reminded PAP Martyniuk – against Marcin O. the extradition case is conducted with Swiss organs.
Another suspect in this investigation – as already reported – is the former executive director of OTS and Orlen SA Filip W., towards whom temporary detention is applied.
In April last year, media reports appeared regarding the Swiss company Orlen OTS. “Rzeczpospolita” wrote then that the Internal Security Agency in 2022 tried to block the appointment of A. as the president of the OTS company. The reason was to be suspected of Arabic extremism.
The Onet portal reported in autumn last year. About warnings flowing on the part of the internal security services of Orlen. According to the portal, they were to indicate that Samer A. from Lebanon is suspected of contacts with the terrorist organization of Hezbollah and involved in illegal rotation of oil from Iran. “(Then president Daniel) Obajtek disregarded these warnings and put Samer A. at the head of OTS. As a result, Orlen lost PLN 1.6 billion, which came to light only after the loss of power by PiS and the dismissal of Obajtek” – wrote the portal.
The Regional Prosecutor in Warsaw Małgorzata Adamajtys announced that it should be assumed that “that the person who headed the company, as the president of the management board of OTS, should not be at the forefront of this company”. “The place and seat of the appointed company, i.e. Switzerland, was also puzzling. It was in a canton, which is a tax paradise” – emphasized Adamajtys.
In December 2024, the Extraordinary General Meeting of Orlen decided that the company would be able to claim claims for damages by former members of the management board, with claims may include unfavorable investment decisions, as well as activities related to OTS. During the shareholders, the current president of Orlen Ireneusz Fąfara explained that in the case of prepayments for oil ordered via OTS, “Proceedings in Switzerland takes place with the involvement of reputable world and detective global companies, in cooperation with the Prosecutor's Office of Switzerland and the Zea authorities.”
Orlen is determined to recover advance payments paid by dependent OTS for oil supplies that have not been implemented – the company informed at the beginning of January. As Orlen emphasized, prepayments made in 2023 in the amount of $ 400 million, without appropriate security, are not a standard market practice. The company reminded that for this reason in April 2024 it made a copy in a consolidated result of PLN 1.6 billion. At the same time, Orlen pointed out that-for comparison-in 2018-2023 he concluded over a thousand oil purchase transactions for over PLN 100 billion “and did not pay prepayments at that time.” (PAP)
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