Czarnecki, a business tycoon and owner of banks including Getin Noble Bank, was expected to give testimony to prosecutors in the southern city of Katowice, public broadcaster TVP Info reported.
The head of Poland’s Financial Supervision Authority (KNF), Marek Chrzanowski, tendered his resignation last week amid claims that he attempted to solicit a bribe from Czarnecki earlier this year.
According to a report in the Gazeta Wyborcza daily, Czarnecki, one of Poland’s richest men, has alleged that Chrzanowski in March offered him favourable treatment in return for millions in financial gain.
Chrzanowski has denied corruption, saying the allegations were part of a scheme to discredit him.
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki last Tuesday ordered a probe, and Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro called on Czarnecki to hand over evidence in the case.
Ziobro, who is also the country’s prosecutor-general, told reporters that he would oversee the investigation himself.
Meanwhile, anti-corruption officers have begun checking Chrzanowski’s asset declarations, according to public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency.
An internal audit was also due to begin at the Financial Supervision Authority on Monday, according to the Polish public radio broadcaster.
Morawiecki said on Friday that Poland’s financial supervision institutions were functioning properly, while Adam Glapiński, the governor of the National Bank of Poland (NBP), the country's central bank, denied speculation that he was planning to resign in the aftermath of the scandal.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for Czarnecki, Roman Giertych, said in a social media post on Saturday he would produce new evidence in the case, a video recording secretly made in July, the money.pl website has reported.
Giertych also alleged "the possibility of the existence of an organised criminal group aiming to take over Leszek Czarnecki’s bank.”
The KNF said in a statement on Sunday that Giertych’s accusations were “unfounded” and that his actions smacked of “an attempt to hinder the activities of the supervisory body.”
The NBP’s Glapiński said on Sunday that Poland’s banking system was "considered to be the safest in Europe" and that Polish banks were “in the best condition in Europe.”
He also said that Polish bank clients could “rest assured and feel completely safe” despite the resignation of the head of the financial regulator.
Meanwhile, the country’s Financial Stability Committee gathered on Sunday evening to discuss the condition of two banks owned by Czarnecki, Getin Noble Bank and Idea Bank, the IAR news agency reported.
The meeting was attended by officials from the National Bank of Poland, the Financial Supervision Authority, the Bank Guarantee Fund, and the finance minister, according to the news agency.
(gs/pk)
Source: TVP Info, IAR