The Poznań Court of Appeal has finally sentenced former Polish rally champion Tomasz K. to one year and six months in prison. Together with his former partner, he must jointly repay PLN 6.2 million in damages to the company Rallyland.
The verdict was announced on Tuesday, 10 November. The appellate court heard appeals in a case concerning actions to the detriment of Rallyland, which planned to build a rally track and a motorsport centre on the site of a former military airfield in the Lipka commune.
How the sentences changed
In January 2025, the District Court in Poznań sentenced Tomasz K. to one year and eight months in prison, and his former partner Władysław Piotr D. to three years and six months. After the appeals, the rally driver’s sentence was reduced by two months, to one and a half years. Władysław Piotr D. is to serve two years and eight months.
PLN 6.2m to compensate the damage
The most important change concerns the obligation to compensate the damage. The first-instance court did not rule on this. The appellate court upheld the prosecutor’s appeal in this respect and ordered both convicted men to jointly pay PLN 6.2 million to Rallyland.
Joint liability means the company can claim the full amount from each of them; it is not automatically divided into two equal parts. The sum is linked to two property sales by Rallyland: about PLN 1.3 million concerned Q Energy, a company linked to Tomasz K., and about PLN 4.9 million concerned FT Energy, associated with Władysław D. The proceeds from the sales did not go into Rallyland’s accounts.
Where Rallyland came from and its debts
The investment started in 2009, when the company bought the site of a former airfield in Debrzno-Wieś. The plans included a rally track, a safe driving academy and overnight accommodation, but Rallyland fell into financial difficulties. Its tax debt to the Lipka commune amounted to about PLN 5 million. The prosecution charged the defendants, among other things, with acting to the detriment of the company, depleting its assets and obstructing creditors from recovering their claims.
Tomasz K. pleaded not guilty. He claimed he had been deceived by his former partner and did not know all of his financial decisions. The court did not accept this argument, but when setting the sentence it took into account that the convicted man had paid his public-law liabilities to the Lipka commune.
The rally driver’s defence counsel, Prof. Zbigniew Ćwiąkalski, said that an application to serve the sentence under electronic monitoring has already been filed. A representative of one of the company’s creditors believes that recovering the money from Władysław D. may be difficult, as enforcement proceedings against him have failed for years, so in practice the greater burden may fall on Tomasz K.
