Polish security services vulnerable under country’s previous rulers: opinion

Cezary Gmyz made the comment on Poland’s public television on Wednesday after the country’s Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) earlier in the day detained eight individuals suspected of peddling their influence in the nation’s security services in the past.

According to Gmyz, an investigative journalist, the group infiltrated Poland’s security services under previous governments and were often regarded as reliable sources of information for both the CBA and the Internal Security Agency (ABW). This occurred at a time when the latter agency was headed by Gen. Krzysztof Bondaryk, Gmyz said during the Minęła dwudziesta current-affairs programme on public broadcaster TVP Info.

The detained individuals were considered to be helpful for the security services at the time, while in reality they used these services to pursue their own dubious interests, Gmyz told TVP Info. He alleged that the detainees posed as security service officers and were also guilty of crimes including value-added tax (VAT) fraud to the tune of around PLN 1 billion (some EUR 240 million, USD 300 million), in addition to illegal trade in fuels, and ties to foreign services.

“This group had contacts with the [security] services of countries that are not friendly to Poland,” Gmyz said.

According to a report by the niezalezna.pl website, the detainees include a man identified only as Tomasz Sz., who the website says was deputy editor-in-chief of Służby Specjalne, a magazine focusing on security services.

According to Gmyz, the Internal Security Agency’s Bondaryk, prior to becoming the agency’s head, was a member of the supervisory board of a company run by Tomasz Sz.

The group allegedly peddled their influence with security services and the state administration, and they are also suspected of fraud, the niezalezna.pl website reported.

According to an earlier report by TVP Info, officers from Russia’s FSB security service gained inside knowledge of the workings of Poland’s Internal Security Agency when the previous government led by the Civic Platform (PO) party was in power in Warsaw.

The ABW allegedly cooperated with the FSB at a time when the Polish agency was headed by Bondaryk, the tvp.info website said in November.

(gs/pk)

Source: TVP Info, niezalezna.pl