Police in Białystok have detained the chairman of the Suwałki commune, Zbigniew M., on suspicion of accepting financial benefits from a businessman. The local government official was wanted on an arrest warrant, said Tomasz Krupa, a spokesman for the Podlasie police.
Krupa announced that the mayor had been detained in the Białystok court building. The mayor arrived there with his legal representative.
Zbigniew M. was wanted on an arrest warrant on suspicion of accepting material benefits of significant value. Local government official in May this year he did not appear when summoned by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Zbigniew M. could not be arrested and his place of stay in the country could not be determined. Therefore, the prosecutor applied to the Białystok District Court to impose pre-trial detention on him. The Białystok District Court decided to impose pre-trial detention on the mayor and the prosecutor’s office started a search for him with an arrest warrant.
The investigation is being conducted by the Podlasie Section of the Organized Crime and Corruption Department of the National Prosecutor’s Office. It concerns “the granting of financial benefits to persons exercising public functions and holding management positions in entities carrying out business activities and the acceptance of such benefits by such persons from persons managing an established economic entity”.
So far, the prosecutor’s office has filed charges against 16 people, including the mayor of Sokółka, who was detained. Eventually, after paying bail, she was released from prison.
