Polish prosecutors secure grant files at sports ministry in 180,000 PLN probe

Document seizure at the ministry headquarters

Prosecutors and police officers entered the Ministry of Sport and Tourism in Warsaw on Friday, 18 September 2026, to secure documentation concerning public grant allocations. The operation was carried out under a formal prosecutor's order targeting files related to the Tourism Support Program 2025 - Marka Polska. Warsaw District Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Piotr Antoni Skiba confirmed the procedural steps and denied reports alleging that searches took place inside executive offices of the ministry leadership. Ministry personnel cooperated with investigators throughout the procedure, releasing the required administrative records.

The prosecutor's office asked for all documents related to the Marka Polska report to be handed over.

Deputy Sports Minister Piotr Borys confirmed that ministry officials complied with the request, describing the handover as a standard procedural step aligned with the ministry's formal explanations.

Police raids across Lower Silesia

The actions in Warsaw followed law enforcement operations conducted on Thursday, 17 September 2026, across multiple sites in Lower Silesia. Acting on orders from the Warsaw District Prosecutor's Office, police units searched several properties in Wrocław and surrounding areas, including real estate owned by Barbara Mróz-Gorgoń. Investigators seized physical paper documentation and electronic data storage devices for subsequent evidentiary analysis.

Procedural actions, gathering and verification of evidence are ongoing all the time. Practically every day witnesses are being questioned.

Fallout from the contested report

The controversy stems from the 2025 publication titled "Polaków portret własny" ("Poles' Self-Portrait"), authored by Mróz-Gorgoń during her tenure as government plenipotentiary for the promotion of Poland's brand. The publication faced criticism from information security expert Łukasz Olejnik and Sebastian Meitz, a Law and Justice (PiS) member affiliated with the Sobieski Institute, who identified numerous factual errors and alleged extensive use of artificial intelligence in drafting the text. In response, Mróz-Gorgoń argued that the text was an internal working draft used within a think tank and had been published on the internet by mistake. She asserted that the report was neither commissioned nor included in any state contract, a position corroborated by the Ministry of Sport and Tourism. Mróz-Gorgoń resigned from her government post following the controversy.

Legal structure of the prosecution inquiry

The Warsaw District Prosecutor's Office formally opened its investigation on 27 August 2026 following legal notifications submitted by members of parliament from Law and Justice and Rozwój Plus. The criminal proceeding is split into two distinct tracks concerning public expenditures totaling 179,738.19 PLN. The first track focuses on events between 4 March and 31 December 2025 in Warsaw and Wrocław, investigating whether the State Treasury was led to an unfavorable disposal of property through misleading filings concerning the scope and execution of the public task titled "Marka Polska - tourism sub-strategy."

The second track covers the period from 31 December 2025 to 20 August 2026, analyzing whether public officials committed an abuse of power or dereliction of duties. Investigators are examining the administrative approval of project reports and the subsequent disbursement of the 179,738.19 PLN subsidy. That funding had been allocated under an agreement signed on 5 June 2025 between the ministry and the Conferences and Congresses Association, which originally required the preparation of a brand strategy, research studies, expert workshops, discussion panels, and a dedicated conference on the future of the Polish brand.