Biznes Fakty
Bank Pekao wants to return salaries from PiS-era advisors. „The employment was fictitious.”
Bank Pekao is requesting the repayment of salaries from several management advisors who were employed during the tenure of the Law and Justice party, according to „Gazeta Wyborcza.” A letter from the bank’s CEO, obtained by the publication, suggests that the employment may not have been legitimate.
The daily explains that this involves the former head of TAI from the era of Jacek Kurski, who is now with Republika, along with Jarosław Olechowski, Małgorzata Raczyńska-Weinsberg (a host of programs on Polish Television during the PiS administration), Ryszard Madziar, Agnieszka Piesiewicz, and Rafał Bukowski.
„The employment was not genuine”
„Gazeta Wyborcza” has acquired a letter from Pekao CEO Cezary Stypułkowski addressed to employees, detailing alarming practices during Jacek Sasin’s tenure as Minister of State Assets under the Law and Justice party (PiS), the newspaper reports. Additionally, it notes that a report summarizing the audit of the bank’s activities from 2017 to 2023 indicates that during this period, Pekao hired a total of 18 management advisors, with their combined salaries amounting to approximately PLN 30 million.
„A clear area of irregularities was the hiring of a significant number of individuals in recent years whose qualifications and fit for the bank’s operational goals and organizational structure were at least questionable,” wrote Pekao’s CEO. Furthermore, in several instances, according to Cezary Stypułkowski, „this employment appeared to be fictitious.”
„Five instances have been identified where there is reasonable suspicion that these individuals, despite holding senior positions (advisory to the management board) and earning relatively high salaries, reaching tens of thousands of zlotys monthly and receiving annual bonuses in the six-figure range, did not actually perform any documented work for the bank. They did not visit the bank’s premises nor utilize the bank’s physical, electronic, or IT resources,” reads the letter from the bank president, as cited by Gazeta Wyborcza.
As reported by Newsweek, Jarosław Olechowski earned PLN 1.39 million for nearly a year at Pekao, Ryszard Madziar – PLN 3 million over two years, Małgorzata Raczyńska-Weinsberg – PLN 3.3 million for more than a year and a half, Agnieszka Piesiewicz – over PLN 1 million for seven months.
Funding from the foundation for the PiS campaign
Gazeta Wyborcza elaborates that the audit, ordered by Pekao’s supervisory board, uncovered numerous „irregularities,” as President Stypułkowski noted in a letter to employees. „This pertains not only to the hiring of advisors but also to the expenditures of the Pekao Foundation that supported the PiS campaign in 2023. The funds—totaling over PLN 4.6 million—were allocated to three organizations: the Independent Media Foundation, the Pokolenie Association, and the Polska 360 Foundation,” the report states.
The publication points out that the contracts signed with these entities were not in line with the statutes of the Pekao Foundation, prompting the prosecutor’s office and tax office to investigate, while the bank itself is seeking the return of the funds from these organizations.
Read more: The broom is sweeping, but the carousel isn’t slowing down. Almost all state-owned companies have new management >>>
„Numerous examples of direct election campaigning by these beneficiaries have been identified, utilizing funds they requested for the purpose of sponsoring the referendum campaign accompanying the elections,” wrote Stypułkowski, as quoted by Gazeta Wyborcza. He stressed that the bank he oversees remains politically neutral.
On October 15, 2023, parliamentary elections and a nationwide referendum took place. Questions were raised regarding the sale of state assets to foreign entities, retirement age, the removal of barriers on the border with the Republic of Belarus, and immigration from the Middle East and Africa. The referendum, which coincided with the elections, was non-binding—fewer than half of eligible voters (40.91%) participated. Voter turnout in the parliamentary elections was 74.38%.
