Clean Air under the microscope of the European Public Prosecutor's Office. It's about several dozen million PLN

The investigation into the misappropriation of several dozen million PLN from the Clean Air program, previously conducted by the District Prosecutor's Office in Szczecin, was taken over by the European Prosecutor at the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Katowice – investigators announced on Tuesday.

The investigation into abuses in the implementation of the Clean Air program was supervised at the preparatory stage by the District Prosecutor's Office in Szczecin. As reported a month ago, there are over 100 victims in the case, and the fraud of money intended for thermal modernization of buildings and replacement of heat sources was committed by a company from the province. West Pomeranian Voivodeship. On Tuesday, the Szczecin prosecutor's office announced that the case had been taken over by the European Prosecutor's Office.

“The preparatory proceedings conducted in this unit with file reference number 3040-2.Ds.55.2025 regarding misappropriation of European Union funds in connection with the implementation of the pro-ecological Clean Air program were taken over for further conduct by the European Public Prosecutor's Office on October 2, 2025,” said prosecutor Julia Szozda, spokeswoman for the District Prosecutor's Office in Szczecin.

The announcement explained that the case files were transferred to the Office of the European Delegated Prosecutor at the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Katowice. Szczecin investigators also noted that correspondence regarding this proceeding, “including possible notifications of suspicion of committing crimes,” should be sent directly to the European Prosecutor's Office at the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Katowice (address: 40-486 Katowice, ul. Kolista 25), indicating the case reference number.

The investigation explaining irregularities in the implementation of the Clean Air program is nationwide. Prosecutors determined that the total amount of damage caused was several dozen million zlotys. The crimes were allegedly committed from 2022 to December 2024. As the spokeswoman of the District Prosecutor's Office in Szczecin said in September, the company from the province West Pomeranian Voivodeship as a contractor, concluded contracts with program beneficiaries for thermal modernization works of residential buildings and replacement of heat sources.

– The case established that the perpetrator's behavior consisted primarily in extorting funds to the detriment of the program beneficiaries, e.g. by misleading them as to the possibility of actually implementing the investment – ​​Szozda explained.

Clean Air is a nationwide subsidy program intended for owners and co-owners of single-family houses for thermal modernization and replacement of old furnaces with new, ecological heat sources.

The program is implemented by the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management and financed by the National Reconstruction Plan and the European Funds for Infrastructure, Climate and Environment program. (PAP)

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