The creator of the Red is Bad brand, Paweł S., suspected of irregularities at the Government Agency for Strategic Reserves (RARS), is to remain in custody until January 28. This decision was made on Tuesday by the Katowice-Wschód District Court, which considered the prosecutor's office's motion to maintain this preventive measure.
The defense does not agree with the decision and announces that it will file an appeal. The appeal will be considered by the District Court in Katowice.
Paweł S. had been wanted by Interpol on October 10 with a red notice. Earlier, an arrest warrant and a European arrest warrant had been issued for him. On Wednesday, he was deported from the Dominican Republic, where he had been detained a few days earlier. The following day, in the Silesian branch of the National Prosecutor's Office in Katowice, he was charged with participation in an organized criminal group, committing crimes within that group with RARS officials, and money laundering. He was interrogated for several days.
On Monday afternoon, the prosecutor's office concluded the proceedings involving him. That day, late in the afternoon, the PK held a session at which the PK's motion to maintain the temporary arrest of S. was considered. The announcement of the decision was postponed until Tuesday.
The court's decision was announced to journalists by prosecutor Karol Zok from the Silesian branch of the National Prosecutor's Office. As he said, the court on Tuesday “upheld the decision on the suspect's temporary arrest, setting its duration at 90 days from the date of arrest, i.e. until January 28, 2025.”
He added that the court pointed to the high probability that Paweł S. committed the acts he was accused of and the fear of obstruction, also in connection with the “developing nature of the case”. He also noted the fear of escape and the high degree of harmfulness and reprehensibility of the crimes S. is suspected of. He did not want to answer questions related to the course of previous activities involving Paweł S. It is not known whether the suspect decided to cooperate with investigators and whether he was confronted with other suspects.
“Of course, we do not agree with this decision (to arrest him), we will file a complaint to the District Court in Katowice,” attorney Adam Klepczyński, representing Paweł S., told reporters after the decision was announced. The defense has a week to appeal the decision.
“We believe that in this case there is no high probability that Mr. Paweł will commit prohibited acts, there is no fear of obstruction and there is no fear of escape,” the attorney argued. Asked whether the defense proposed other preventive measures instead of arrest, he replied that the defense always proposes alternative, so-called non-custodial measures – property bail or police supervision and a ban on leaving the country.
A few weeks ago, when Paweł S. was still wanted, a Katowice court issued a decision to arrest him for 90 days. In accordance with the regulations, after the hearing, the prosecutor ordered the suspect to be brought to court with a motion to maintain temporary arrest. On Tuesday, the court upheld that decision.
The prosecutor's office does not provide information on how S. responded to the allegations – whether he admits to them or not; it only stated that he provided explanations. On Thursday, in a statement sent out by the Prosecutor's Office, it stated that the allegations presented to S. concern participation in an organized criminal group, cooperation in exceeding authority by public officials representing RARS, and money laundering.
On Thursday morning, Paweł S. was accompanied to the prosecutor's office by three defense attorneys – Bartosz Lewandowski, Krzysztof Wąsowski and Jacek Dubois. The creator of Red is Bad terminated Lewandowski and Wąsowski's power of attorney that day. According to “Rzeczpospolita” findings, “this is a signal that the suspect may have decided to cooperate with the prosecutor's office”; PK and the defense have not commented on this.
In August this year, PK announced the issuance of a decision to bring charges against the former head of RARS, Michał K. and Paweł S., regarding irregularities in RARS. The charges concerned participation in an organized criminal group, failure to perform duties and exceeding authority in order to gain financial benefits.
The investigation into irregularities at RARS was initiated on December 1, 2023. It is being conducted by the Silesian Department of the PK in Katowice. It concerns, among other things, the abuse of authority and failure to fulfill obligations by RARS employees when organizing and implementing the purchase of goods, and thus acting to the detriment of the public interest from February 23, 2021 to November 27, 2023 in Warsaw in order to gain financial benefits.
The basis for initiating the investigation were classified materials collected by the CBA and two reports of suspicion of a crime submitted by the General Inspector of Financial Information. At a later stage of the investigation, the GIIF submitted two more reports of suspicion of money laundering.
In a statement on Thursday, PK wrote that the investigation “explains irregularities that occurred, among others, as a result of the abuse of regulations from the Act on Strategic Reserves allowing the omission or simplification of public procurement procedures,” and the revealed irregularities concern the suspicion of preferential treatment of selected business entities and the acceptance of inflated prices for goods, including the supply of power generators, protective masks and other products used to counteract the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the investigation, it was also revealed that some of the transactions were concluded despite RARS employees receiving a negative position of the CBA regarding the selection of a specific offer, due to reservations regarding the reliability of the bidder. According to the findings provided by PK, one of the beneficiaries of this procedure was an entity represented by Paweł S. “The evidence suggests a suspicion that Paweł S., after agreeing with RARS officials on illegal actions constituting an abuse of authority, led to the conclusion of a number of contracts with the agency for the supply of power generators,” the prosecutor's office reported. In total, the entity represented by Paweł S. was to receive at least PLN 242.6 million from RARS.
“The conclusion and implementation of these agreements were contrary to the principles of impartial and objective treatment of bidders, rational management of public funds, including spending funds in an objective, purposeful and economical manner,” the investigators found.
They also noted that the evidence, including the disclosed financial transactions, “indicates a suspicion that after receiving the RARS remuneration, the suspect committed activities constituting “money laundering” through numerous bank transfers. “The purpose of these activities was to thwart or significantly impede the determination of the criminal origin of these funds, and also their detection and seizure,” they explained.
According to PK, these findings are the basis for the charges brought against S. The suspect faces a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
So far, five people have been charged in the proceedings, including the former RARS president Michał K. and three other agency officials. Michał K. was detained in the UK and extradition proceedings are ongoing against him. During the investigation, the prosecutor blocked bank accounts and secured funds in the total amount of PLN 117.6 million. The suspects' assets were secured against the penalties and criminal measures they face by applying mortgages on real estate and seizing funds in the total amount of over PLN 20 million.
PK states that the case is multi-threaded and developing. The investigation has been entrusted to the Central Anticorruption Bureau delegation in Rzeszów, as well as the Mazovian Customs and Fiscal Office in Warsaw. (PAP)
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