Law & Justice
Poland crypto scandal: Tusk accuses PiS leaders
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has accused leaders of the right-wing opposition PiS party of links to what he called a corruption system involving the cryptocurrency platform Zondacrypto.
Tusk said Friday that the case no longer looked like an ordinary bribe or a single bought politician, but like a well-organised system. He said people who benefited from the money had entered “a very dirty business”.
Zondacrypto, formerly known as Bitbay, was founded in 2014 and abruptly ceased operations in April. Losses to creditors have been estimated at 350 million zlotys, or $94 million. Earlier government figures said about 30,000 people were affected.
Radoslaw Piesiewicz, president of the Polish Olympic Committee and a PiS ally, was arrested Thursday and charged with influence peddling. He reportedly signed a sponsorship agreement with Zondacrypto under which athletes who performed well at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics were to receive cryptocurrency rewards.
Polish Sports Minister Jakub Rudnicki confirmed Piesiewicz's arrest and said he should not have led the committee. Most of Poland's sports federations later called for Piesiewicz to resign.
Zondacrypto founder Sylwester Suszek disappeared in 2022. His successor, Przemyslaw Kral, has agreed to testify in return for a lighter penalty, according to his defence team. Kral's lawyer, Roman Giertych, called the case “the biggest political corruption scandal in the history of the Republic of Poland”.
Several figures from the nationalist right have been implicated in the Zondacrypto case, including former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who fled to the United States, and his deputy Marcin Romanowski. PiS says it is the victim of political score-settling and a judicial vendetta.
Prosecutors are also investigating links between Zondacrypto and the organisers of the Conservative Political Action Conference gathering held in Poland in May 2025. PiS-backed President Karol Nawrocki has vetoed several bills aimed at regulating the cryptocurrency market.
Update
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused top PiS leaders of links to a corruption system involving Zondacrypto.
Tusk said the case looked like a well-organised system rather than a single bribe.
Piesiewicz was charged with influence peddling after his arrest.
Zondacrypto founder Sylwester Suszek disappeared in 2022.
Przemyslaw Kral has agreed to testify in return for a lighter penalty, according to his defence team.
Prosecutors are investigating links between Zondacrypto and organisers of the CPAC gathering held in Poland in May 2025.
PiS-backed President Karol Nawrocki has vetoed bills aimed at regulating the cryptocurrency market.
Source note: AFP news report published on 28 August 2026 at 16:23:49 UTC.
Update
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski called Piesiewicz a symbol of corruption in the Olympic movement and linked his election to the former Law and Justice government.
Officials said the sponsorship deal would have awarded cryptocurrency prizes to Olympic medallists at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.
The government says Zondacrypto's disappearance caused 350 million zlotys in losses and affected about 30,000 people.
Prosecutors are also examining Zondacrypto links to other political figures and the Republika broadcaster.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 12:31:20 UTC.
Update
Polish Sports Minister Jakub Rudnicki confirmed Radoslaw Piesiewicz's arrest on X.
Polish authorities launched the investigation in April.
Sports federations said Piesiewicz signed the Zondacrypto sponsorship deal for the Polish Olympic Committee.
The government estimates Zondacrypto's disappearance caused 350 million zlotys, or $94 million, in losses and affected around 30,000 people.
Media reports claimed Piesiewicz received a watch worth about 40,000 euros from Zondacrypto's Przemyslaw Kral; Piesiewicz said he paid for it himself.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 10:47:37 UTC.
Update
The arrested official was identified as Radoslaw Piesiewicz.
Piesiewicz is suspected of receiving kickbacks from awarding PKOI sponsoring contracts.
The alleged payments were made via the Zondacrypto digital currency platform.
The Polish government accuses Zondacrypto of links to nationalist opposition groups, organised crime and Russian secret services.
Source note: AFP news report published on 27 August 2026 at 09:54:21 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The full scope of the alleged corruption system has not been established in the supplied material.
The exact legal status of several figures said to be implicated in the Zondacrypto case is not specified.
The outcome of prosecutors' investigations into Zondacrypto's political links is unresolved.
Source
AFP news report published on .