WARSAW, Poland (AP) —
Prosecutors in southern Poland have charged a former member of the European Parliament and his wife with corruption and influence peddling, as part of a larger investigation into irregularities in the activities of a private university in Warsaw.
Ryszard Czarnecki is a prominent member of Law and Justice, Poland’s former ruling conservative party. The current government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk is attempting to account for the alleged mismanagement and other failings of its predecessor.
Katowice prosecutor Tomasz Tadla said Thursday night that Czarnecki and his wife received about 92,000 zlotys ($23,000) from Collegium Humanum in exchange for promises to help the university develop branches abroad, mainly in Uzbekistan, using Czarnecki’s political connections. The money transfers were camouflaged as a reward for Czarnecki’s wife, identified only as Emilia H., for fictitious work at the university.
The couple, who were detained Wednesday, denied any wrongdoing, Tadla said. They have been released on bail.
Several parliamentary committees of inquiry and investigations have been launched to investigate alleged abuse of power, misuse of public funds and corruption by the previous government. One of these is Collegium Humanum, which allegedly issued fake MBA diplomas in exchange for bribes totaling 630,000 zlotys ($162,000). Nearly 50 suspects have been identified in the investigation so far and some of them, including the university’s rector, have been charged.
If found guilty, Czarnecki and his wife face up to 10 years in prison.
Czarnecki was a Member of the European Parliament and Vice-President of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2019, but he lost that job in 2018 after he was accused of fraud worth hundreds of thousands of euros in travel allowances.