2026-01-28 13:45
publication
2026-01-28 13:45
The District Court in Olsztyn decided to put over 9,000 gambling machines on sale. This is material evidence in the case of an organized criminal group. The bill for storing these machines is PLN 1.2 million per year.
The decision to put up for sale over 9,000 gambling machines, Olgierd Dąbrowski-Żegalski, judge of the District Court in Olsztyn, told PAP. This judge will hear the case of an organized criminal group that was involved in, among others, organizing illegal gambling games and laundering money earned from these activities. The defendants were accused of committing a total of over 60,000 crimes.
In an interview with PAP, Judge Dąbrowski-Żegalski emphasized that despite the lack of a hearing date, he decided to sell the devices and machines due to the high cost of storing them. – The annual bill for keeping these machines last year amounted to PLN 1.2 million. At the investigation stage, these costs were borne by the prosecutor's office, now, when the case went to court, the costs are taken over by the court – said the judge.
He added that regardless of the sale of the machines, the court will negotiate the price of renting the warehouses where the gambling machines are now stored.
– The warehouses belong to Caritas, the fees for their storage went to Caritas – the judge told PAP. The case files include at least two bills paid to Caritas for 2024 and 2025.
According to the judge the value of machines that were seized 8 years ago is still falling. – And the costs of this procedure are increasing dramatically – emphasized the judge.
The court's decision to sell the machines is not final. – The defense opposes this decision – admitted judge Dąbrowski-Żegalski.
For now, it is not known when the confiscated machines will be sold or whether buyers will be found.
At the end of 2025, the court in Olsztyn received the files of a record-breaking case in the Polish justice system. The Regional Prosecutor's Office in Gdańsk accused 22 people of, among others, participation in an organized criminal group, money laundering and fiscal crimes involving organizing and conducting collective participation in gambling games on slot machines without a license.
According to the prosecutor's findings, the acts alleged against the defendants were committed in the years 2015-2017 in various towns in Poland (including the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship) and abroad in European Union countries. As a result of their criminal activities, this organized group allegedly obtained financial benefits amounting to approximately PLN 450 million.
The case is multi-threaded and counts nearly 1.6 thousand cases. volumes of files, i.e. approximately 320,000 sheets of documents.
Even though a team of investigators worked on the case, one judge was appointed to hear it. He admitted in an interview with PAP that it cannot be ruled out that some of the charges will expire.
The judge reads the evidence, and there is no date for the main hearing. (PAP)
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