2024-07-18 14:55 update: 2024-07-18, 15:00
Fot. PAP/Rafał Guz
A prosecutor's office in Warsaw has launched an investigation into financial irregularities in the functioning of Polish public television broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP).
On Wednesday TVP S.A. said in a statement that the district prosecutor’s office in Warsaw opened the investigation after receiving a notice from the company about a suspected offence.
The case concerns "causing great financial damage to TVP S.A., currently in a state of liquidation, between the years 2018 and 2024 by people responsible for its property matters."
According to TVP, "the company may have lost around PLN 7 million (EUR 1.6 million) by concluding contracts for the provision of IT services and issuing, for the purpose of obtaining financial gain, VAT invoices which were false, amounting to approximately PLN 5 million (EUR 1.2 million) for IT services which had not in fact been provided."
After filing the notice on July 8, TVP told PAP that the document regards the former management board of Telewizja Bielsat.
In a statement given to PAP on July 9, Agnieszka Romaszewska-Guzy, the former manager of Telewizja Bielsat, strongly protested against the dissemination of information by the TVP authorities which suggested that embezzlement and false invoices for IT services were being issued at TVP when she managed it.
She later commented on the decision of the prosecutors to launch the investigation in a post on the X platform.
"Of course, the investigation for the time being concerns 'the case' and it is not yet clear if and against whom any charges will be brought, but once again my name appears in the TVP statement..." she said. "This whole grim circus means that (Justice Minister Adam - PAP) Bodnar's mace has been raised and it appears it is over my head this time."
This comes as another step taken by the current coalition government in its mission to reform public media in Poland, which in their view became politicised during the years of the former Law and Justice (PiS) government. (PAP)
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