“Poles”, fake invoices and millions in cash. The prosecutor's office reveals the mechanism of extortion from NCBR

The National Center for Research and Development cooperates closely with relevant law enforcement authorities, NCBR director Jerzy Małachowski told PAP on Tuesday. On Monday, the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw announced that it had submitted the first indictment to the court regarding irregularities at NCBR. There will be 33 people on the stand.

The spokesman for the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw, Prosecutor Mateusz Martyniuk, said that the indictment covered entrepreneurs and the so-called poles. They were accused of, among others, participation in an organized criminal group, fraud to the detriment of NCBR, issuing false VAT invoices and money laundering.

In connection with the information from the prosecutor's office, the director of NCBR, Jerzy Małachowski, stated that the center “is closely cooperating with the relevant law enforcement authorities in this case and a number of others to bring it to an end and fully explain it.”

– The task I undertook when taking the position of director of NCBR was to rebuild the institution and trust in it, as well as to restore NCBR to cooperation between science and business. The accusations heard by so many people indicate that the predecessors misunderstood the role of NCBR and instead of serving the social good, they apparently only thought about their own interests – told PAP the director of the National Center for Research and Development, prof. Ph.D. engineer Jerzy Małachowski, commenting on the information from the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw.

– Today, we are doing everything to make the National Center for Research and Development again an institution that can be trusted because it supports research, development and innovation and serves the development of the country and Polish science.not siphoning off public money. We have introduced a recovery program and are implementing a new strategy that supports Polish innovation – assured the director. Małachowski.

He added that the positive effects of these changes have already been recorded in surveys regarding cooperation with NCBR beneficiaries. – We connect the world of science and business. We do it in a transparent and, above all, honest way – he emphasized.

According to the prosecutor's office, the accused from June 2022 to January 2024 they operated in an organized criminal group that extorted money from NCBR from the European Regional Development Fund.

Proc. Martyniuk informed that the group concluded investment and grant agreements through the Scitech Fund from the “Intelligent Development 2014-2020 – BRIDGE ALFA” program and the “Fast Path – Digital Innovations” competition.

“We cooperated with companies formally run by the so-called 'poles'which did not actually conduct any research and development work. The projects were created solely to obtain funding, he added.

After receiving the grants, the money was transferred to the accounts of other entities under the guise of fictitious transactions confirmed by false VAT invoices or salary payments. They were then paid in cash to conceal their criminal origins.

The defendants extorted almost PLN 5 million from NCBR and tried to extort almost PLN 43 million.

For 10 defendants who pleaded guilty to committing the offenses they were charged with, the prosecutor's office filed a motion to sentence them. Proceedings are still being continued against 28 suspects, including Hanna S. – former deputy director of NCBR in 2022-2023.

Proc. Martyniuk emphasized that the prosecutor's office plans to file further indictments in this case in the near future. (PAP)

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