2024-10-09 14:59 update: 2024-10-09, 15:01
Photo: PAP/Jakub Kaczmarczyk
The Regional Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw has requested arrest warrants for two former board members in the state energy conglomerate Orlen Group, accused of causing financial damage to the company.
Mateusz Martyniuk, the Prosecutor's Office's spokesperson, announced on Wednesday that Samer A. and Marcin O. (names withheld under Polish law) would be charged with causing substantial financial losses to Orlen S.A and its Swiss branch, Orlen Trader Switzerland (OTS).
The accused allegedly entered into three unfavourable contracts for the purchase of crude oil between August 21 and December 21, 2023, resulting in damages estimated at approximately 378 million USD.
"Since the whereabouts of the suspects, who are believed to be in hiding based on the evidence gathered, have not been established, they have not yet been charged," Martyniuk said.
He added that the prosecution requested temporary arrest warrants for the men, which would allow them to initiate an international search.
In April, the privately-owned news outlet Onet reported that Daniel Obajtek, the former Orlen CEO, had cooperated with Lebanese entrepreneur Samer A., who was suspected of connections to Hezbollah and illegal trade in Iranian petroleum.
According to Onet, Obajtek ignored the warnings of Orlen's security services, which supposedly had informed him of this before he decided to put Samer A. in charge of OTS.
The National Prosecutor's Office has also been working on two other cases connected to Orlen. One of them concerns the merger between Orlen and its peer Lotos, and the other relates to the alleged price-fixing of fuel before the parliamentary elections of 2023. (PAP)
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