Polish prosecutors probe 5.8m PLN in private loans to Olympic committee

Private liquidity funding before Paris Games

The Regional Prosecutor's Office in Gdańsk is examining three financial agreements signed by the Polish Olympic Committee (PKOl) in April 2024 that secured over 5.8 million PLN from private parties. The first agreement, concluded on 16 April 2024, involved Agnieszka Piesiewicz, the wife of PKOl president Radosław Piesiewicz. Under the terms, she acquired rights to receivables that PKOl held against the International Olympic Committee valued at 535,000 dollars, equal to almost 2.2 million PLN at the time. On 24 April and 26 April 2024, PKOl entered into two similar agreements with Ewa Bachańska, the wife of Polish Basketball Association president Grzegorz Bachański, for 700,000 PLN, and with the company Massimo Found for 3 million PLN. PKOl treasurer Grzegorz Kotowicz and secretary general Marek Pałus signed the first agreement, while Piesiewicz and Pałus signed the subsequent contracts.

Structure and purpose of the claims assignment

PKOl stated that the private transactions served to maintain operational liquidity ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. According to the committee, significant immediate expenditures were required to organise the Polish delegation's travel and stay in France, while its receivables from the International Olympic Committee were not due until December 2024. PKOl maintained that Agnieszka Piesiewicz acted as a private individual and received no remuneration, with the organisation receiving 100 percent of the contracted funds under terms more favourable than commercial loans or factoring. Legal counsel Robert Nogacki noted that the arrangement effectively functioned as an interest-free bridge loan, saving PKOl an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 dollars in interest. However, Nogacki pointed out the ethical complications of a sports body receiving direct funding from the family of its president.

Since the committee received 100 percent and the other party took no remuneration, economically it was an interest-free bridge loan.

Scope of the prosecutorial investigation

The inquiry into the private debt assignments forms one branch of a wider investigation launched in March 2025 by the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Gdańsk. Prosecutors are investigating suspected economic and financial malversation across PKOl, the Polish Basketball Association, and the Polish Basketball League, all three of which were led by Piesiewicz. Investigators suspect that Piesiewicz generated inaccurate VAT invoices totaling approximately 9.3 million PLN through his sole proprietorship for fictitious commercial brokerage services. No charges have been filed against Piesiewicz in that specific inquiry, and he has denied all allegations of wrongdoing. Prosecutor Mariusz Marciniak confirmed that the April 2024 agreements are actively being reviewed to determine whether PKOl suffered significant property damage.

We do not provide detailed information about the findings of the investigation. I only confirm that such a thread is part of this investigation.

Leadership crisis and scheduled dismissal

The disclosure of the private financing arrangements coincides with ongoing legal troubles for the PKOl leadership. Radosław Piesiewicz has been held in pre-trial detention for more than two weeks in a separate investigation connected to the Zondacrypto cryptocurrency exchange. In that case, prosecutors charged him with paid protection and satisfying select creditors to the detriment of others facing impending insolvency. Following his detention, the PKOl management board scheduled a meeting for Monday to vote on his formal dismissal from the presidency. One of the committee's eight vice presidents is slated to take over executive duties and complete the remaining term of office.