CBA inspects Jelenia Góra City Hall over 2024 flood relief certificates

Inspection at Jelenia Góra City Hall

Officers from Poland's Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) entered the City Hall in Jelenia Góra on Wednesday, 19 August 2026, to examine documentation tied to disaster relief funds distributed after the 2024 flood. The agents are inspecting the administrative process used by municipal officials to grant flood damage certificates to local businesses. City spokesperson Marcin Ryłko confirmed the presence of investigators, stating that agents conducted interviews with municipal staff and examined records across two municipal units: the Resident Services Department and the Crisis Management Department. The municipal office issued approximately 200 certificates that local businesses subsequently used to apply for government-funded recovery aid. Ryłko added that the city hall is fully cooperating with the bureau by supplying all requested files.

They are on site and inspecting the procedure for issuing flood certificates to entrepreneurs, which they applied for after the 2024 flood.

Irregularities in regional relief funds

The municipal inspection stems from investigative findings concerning the distribution of public funds by the Karkonosze Regional Development Agency (KARR). The regional body managed the distribution of government loans designed to help flood-affected businesses rebuild after the 2024 disaster. Reporting by Wirtualna Polska revealed that roughly 4.5 million PLN in disaster relief went to three commercial entities in Dziwiszów, even though satellite mapping and State Fire Service records showed that floodwaters did not reach those locations. Four independent sources confirmed the absence of flood damage at the properties. The beneficiary entities were directly tied to Anna Konieczyńska, a Civic Coalition politician who took office as KARR vice-president in February 2025, and included a company owned by her husband, a business owned by a neighbour, and a local television station working with municipal authorities.

Scale of the broader investigation

The inspection at Jelenia Góra City Hall forms part of a wider investigation that the anti-corruption agency initiated in April 2026. Special services coordinator spokesperson Jacek Dobrzyński reported on 12 August 2026 that the bureau had analyzed 900 applications submitted under the post-flood support program. Agents placed over 50 specific funding applications, amounting to nearly 50 million PLN, under detailed procedural review and compiled roughly 11,000 pages of case evidence. In addition to reviewing territorial flood maps, the agency requested supplementary data from institutions including the Tax Administration Chamber, State Water Holding Polish Waters in Wrocław, the State Fire Service, the Ministry of Development and Technology, and Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego. Dobrzyński stated that the bureau expects to submit formal notifications of suspected criminal offenses to prosecutors shortly.

Political fallout and administrative shifts

The inquiry into KARR operations caused administrative turnover and regional political friction across Lower Silesia. Regional authorities dismissed Konieczyńska from her executive position at KARR, followed by the resignation of agency president Hubert Papaj and the removal of the supervisory board before new members were appointed. The Lower Silesian voivodeship government holds a 99.99% ownership share in the regional development agency, placing the political oversight of the funds under regional scrutiny. Following the disclosures, several voivodeship councillors stated they would seek a vote to dismiss Lower Silesian Marshal Paweł Gancarz of the Polish People's Party. In parallel with the CBA investigation, the Ministry of Development and Technology launched an administrative review, while local prosecutors in Jelenia Góra continue an examination of the certificate allocations.