Prosecutors under fire in Amber Gold banking scandal

Attorney General Andrzej Seremet at press conference, Monday: photo - PAP/Pawel Supernak

Attorney General Andrzej Seremet has asked the National Prosecution Council to recall the Gdansk regional prosecutor, the city where the finance company Amber Gold is based and has also demanded the tightening of regulations concerning Poland's banking law.

The collapse of the company has left customers owed an estimated 80 million zloty (20 million euro).

Speaking at a press conference in Warsaw, Seremet's first since the spectacular bankruptcy of the Amber Gold lender early this month, the attorney general pointed to the “sluggish” pace of the investigation into the company which has been operating without a banking licence for years.

"Delays have resulted from […] the lack of a professional approach by Gdansk prosecutors, and a lack of imagination," Sermet said.

Seremet said that in 2009 the Banking Finance Commission informed state prosecutors in Gdansk that Amber Gold may be conducting banking activities without the necessary licenses.

The prosecution claimed that there were no signs of a breach of law on part of the company.

The case resurfaced in 2010 and again the Gdansk prosecution service did not find reason to investigate, Seremet told journalists yesterday.

The director of the Amber Gold company 29 year old businessman Marcin P. (surname withheld due to legal proceedings) has heard six criminal charges against him.

He is accused of not filing financial annual reports, falsifying documents, as well as Polish banking law.

Marcin P. is also banned from on leaving his place of residence while the investigation continues. (pg/ab)

source: PAP/IAR