Белсат
Krzysztof M. and Szymon P. have been charged with fraud against Telewizja Polska (TVP) related to the provision of IT services to Belsat TV. According to the Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office, the alleged losses amounted to several million zlotys, Interia Wydarzenia reported.
The investigation covers two incidents. The first covers the period from August 2018 to January 2024 and concerns losses to TVP of more than PLN 7 million. The second investigation concerns the issuance of fraudulent invoices totaling more than PLN 5.1 million. The documents were used for accounting settlements for IT services that were allegedly not actually provided.
According to investigators, Krzysztof M. did not provide IT services to Belsat for which he received payment. In addition, he allegedly issued 385 fraudulent invoices totaling around PLN 4.5 million and used them when filing tax returns.
The prosecutor’s office accuses Szymon P. of misleading TVP about the cost of IT services provided. According to investigators, he was paid around PLN 4.2 million on the basis of 295 invoices.
Both suspects have denied the charges.
Krzysztof M. was placed under bail of PLN 170,000, police supervision requiring him to report to the police twice a week, as well as a travel ban and the seizure of his passport.
Earlier, former Belsat director Agnieszka Romaszewska said that on September 1, Poland’s Central Anticorruption Bureau (CBA) detained two IT specialists who had previously worked with Belsat.
She identified one of those detained as Szymon Puacz and said she considered him an “honest specialist.” She called it disgusting that honest people were being portrayed as criminals.
In 2024, the CBA launched an investigation into possible financial irregularities related to Belsat’s activities. At the time, prosecutors said they were examining invoices totaling around PLN 5 million for IT services that allegedly had not actually been provided. The channel’s former management has rejected the allegations.
In March 2024, Romaszewska was dismissed as director of Belsat, a position she had held for 17 years. Following restructuring, the channel ceased to be an independent TVP unit, while its Belarusian, Ukrainian and Russian editorial teams were transferred to TVP’s Foreign Programs Center.