A deputy CEO of GetBack, two former company directors and a former court bailiff were among those detained on Wednesday morning in connection with alleged offences committed to the detriment of the GetBack debt collection and management company, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported, citing a prosecutor.
The detentions were made as a team of investigators appointed by the country’s deputy prosecutor-general is probing suspected irregularities surrounding GetBack, a spokeswoman for the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw, Agnieszka Zabłocka-Konopka, said, as quoted by the news agency.
Prosecutors are preparing to charge those detained with offences including abuse of trust in business, resulting in massive losses to the company, Zabłocka-Konopka told IAR.
She named “prohibited acts” allegedly committed in relation to what is known as amicable debt collection, detective services, a database creation agreement and apparent licencing agreements, as a result of which she said GetBack suffered substantial damage to its assets.
The IAR news agency also cited Poland’s Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) as saying that new leads in an ongoing investigation concerned a network of companies allegedly managed by the detained individuals, who are suspected of siphoning nearly PLN 120 million (EUR 28 million, USD 32 million) in funds out of GetBack through business deals detrimental to the company.
GetBack was established in 2012. In July last year, it floated its shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE).
The company hit the headlines after media reports this spring that it was unable to redeem more than PLN 2.5 billion (EUR 580 million, USD 670 million) worth of corporate bonds held by over 9,000 bondholders.
In April, trading in the company’s shares was suspended on the WSE at the request of Poland’s Financial Supervision Authority (KNF).
The Regional Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw and the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau are both investigating the case, with suspected irregularities also including alleged lies in stock market reports, IAR reported.
So far, 19 people have been detained, of whom 12 have been charged, according to the news agency.
The case is also being probed by Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) amid suspicion that clients buying GetBack corporate bonds through banks and other financial institutions may have been misled by being offered assurances that the product was as safe as a bank deposit, the IAR news agency reported.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR