Polish authorities detain 11 in university visa fraud ring that netted 22.5 million PLN

The multi-million zloty university visa scheme

Polish law enforcement agencies dismantled an organized crime network that used private universities to bring foreign nationals into Poland and legalize their residence. According to findings from prosecutors and the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA), the group operated from 2017 until late September 2026, generating at least 22.5 million PLN in illicit profits. Foreign clients, primarily from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, India, and China, paid 9,500 euros each for comprehensive residency legalization packages. The scheme fabricated university enrollments and arranged fictitious employment contracts with non-operational shell companies. These dummy employers paid mandatory social security (ZUS) and health insurance (NFZ) contributions to simulate genuine employment, enabling clients to secure Polish visas.

Continuation through shadow institutions

The criminal operation continued even after the February 2024 arrest of Collegium Humanum rector Paweł Cz. Within two weeks of that arrest, Michaił P., the former director of the Collegium Humanum branch in Uzbekistan, assumed the role of chancellor at another private institution, Pedagogium. Operations then resumed under identical mechanisms across a network of private higher education entities, including those linked to Radosław Z. under the Federation of Warsaw Agglomeration Universities. Probers estimate that the broader network forged at least 1,500 university diplomas, yielding more than 850,000 PLN from counterfeit educational credentials alone. Clients paid in cash inside Russia, which couriers then transported physically to Poland in bags.

Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek evaluated the scope of the operation:

This was not just a diploma scandal, it was an organized mafia that traded border security and state documents for millions of zlotys.

National security concerns and property laundering

In late September 2026, the CBA and the Border Guard, acting on orders from the National Prosecutor's Office and working with the General Inspector of Financial Information (GIIF), arrested 11 individuals. Six suspects were placed in pre-trial detention, with Michaił P. and Radosław Z. facing charges of establishing and leading an organized crime group. Among those who entered Poland on counterfeit employment papers was a former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), who is wanted in Russia for embezzlement and whose current whereabouts remain unknown. Investigators are scrutinizing several hundred Warsaw apartments acquired by connected individuals, alongside fake loans executed through shell companies to launder the criminal proceeds.

Separate takeover of Częstochowa academy assets

In a parallel development in Częstochowa, prosecutors revealed charges against ten individuals in a separate scheme to take over the assets of Akademia Polonijna between 2023 and 2026. Tomasz S. and Maciej R. were charged with establishing and leading a criminal group, with eight others charged with participation, money laundering, document forgery, and fraud against leasing firms and tenants. The takeover originated in August 2023 at a Warsaw notary office using a forged document regarding the patronage council of the Foundation Institute of Education and Development, leading to the removal of founder Father Andrzej Kryński. Three suspects were remanded in custody following arrests on 22 September 2026.

Tomasz Ozimek, spokesperson for the Częstochowa District Prosecutor's Office, detailed the objective of that inquiry:

The activity of the criminal group was aimed at taking over the assets of a higher education institution in Częstochowa.