According to the indictment, Włodzimierz Karpiński, former State Treasury minister and president of Warsaw’s MPO, allegedly accepted, together with accomplices, over 5.2 million zł in bribes from the company FBSerwis. The defendant denies the charges, and the case involves 17 people.
The National Prosecutor’s Office (Silesian division) sent the indictment to court in May 2025. According to its findings, Włodzimierz K., together with Rafał B. and Karolina T., received a financial benefit of 5,242,311 zł. In return, the terms of MPO tenders were allegedly changed, which had previously prevented FBSerwis group companies from taking part in tenders. Details of how the scheme allegedly operated, according to investigators, are now being described.
A 2.5% Commission and “Face Masks”
According to the indictment, in April 2020 Rafał Baniak, former deputy State Treasury minister, began arranging contacts between FBSerwis president Artur P. and Karpiński. Initially, the figure was reportedly to be 3.5% of the value of invoices issued by FBSerwis, but ultimately 2.5% was agreed. Orders for group companies in 2021–2022 amounted to nearly 600 million zł.
Prosecutors believe the bribery talks were conducted under the guise of trading in face masks. In July 2020, MPO announced a tender without a transshipment point requirement in the Masovia region, and a few days later Baniak allegedly wrote to Artur P. about “face masks” – investigators treat this as a code word.
Fictitious Invoices and Cash
According to investigators, the money for the bribes was obtained through companies issuing VAT invoices that misrepresented facts, including for “readiness to rent machinery”. Cash was withdrawn from banks and ATMs and then transported to Warsaw. At least 4.1 million zł passed through the hands of Karolina T. and was handed to Baniak. The final installment, 300,000 zł, reached him in December 2022 in a laptop bag.
What Prosecutors Did Not Secure
Investigators acknowledge that they have not found over 5 million zł of the alleged bribes. They point to indirect traces: cash deposits made by Baniak and family loans taken by Karpiński to buy property. They also note Karpiński’s changing explanations and a phone that, according to him, was lost.
Who Pleads Guilty
The indictment covers 17 people. Baniak and Artur P. are to be charged with leading an organized criminal group, and another 12 people with participating in it. Five people, including Karpiński, have been charged with corruption offences, and 15 with issuing and booking fictitious invoices. Thirteen defendants have pleaded guilty. Karpiński, Baniak, his wife and one of FBSerwis’s contractors deny the charges.
Karpiński’s defence lawyer, Michał Królikowski, has consistently argued that the indictment rests on accusations and “hearsay”, and that the prosecution has not gathered serious evidence that his client benefited from any advantage. Karpiński denies that any money reached him. The indictment presents the prosecution’s version, not findings of the court. The case file contains 99 volumes and 77 binders of tender documentation. The trial is set to begin on December 4 before the District Court in Warsaw.
