Polish prosecutors to reopen probe into 2009 gambling scandal: report
PR dla Zagranicy
Agnieszka Łaszczuk
29.12.2017 12:51
Poland’s National Public Prosecutor’s Office plans to reopen an investigation into a gambling scandal that erupted under the country’s previous government in 2009, according to public broadcaster TVP.
Gambling machines. Photo: LoggaWiggler/Pixabay/CCO Creative Commons
A prosecutor who previously conducted a probe into the scandal intended to bring charges against a deputy finance minister at the time, but was removed from the investigation under unclear circumstances, according to TVP.
National Public Prosecutor Bogdan Święczkowski has decided to relaunch the investigation after analysing the case files, the public broadcaster said.
The renewed investigation would look into decisions on the registration of slot machines, taken by finance ministry officials from 2006 to 2009.
The gambling affair sent political shockwaves across the nation and hurt the reputation of the former government of Donald Tusk, who is now president of the European Council.
The scandal broke out after Poland’s Rzeczpospolita daily reported that some of Tusk’s ministers met with gambling industry representatives in the summer of 2009 and later lobbied to stop proposed tax hikes on betting.
Some of the government’s top officials handed in their resignations in the wake of the scandal, including then-Interior Minister and Deputy PM Grzegorz Schetyna, the current leader of the opposition Civic Platform (PO) party.
The District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw decided to close down the investigation into the scandal in April 2011 after it concluded there was insufficient evidence to bring a criminal case to court.
(ał/gs)
Source: TVP Info