Detention of Polish Olympic Committee President in Crypto Fraud Investigation
Radosław Piesiewicz, the president of the Polish Olympic Committee (PKOl), has been arrested as part of an investigation into Zondacrypto, a cryptocurrency company that fell apart earlier this year and was a key sponsor of Poland’s Olympic team.
This news follows a day after Waldemar Żurek, Poland’s justice minister and prosecutor general, disclosed that prosecutors are looking into possible illicit activities connected to Zondacrypto’s funding of various individuals and organizations, including PKOl, Piesiewicz, and some figures from Poland’s right-wing opposition.
During a press conference, Żurek confirmed the detention of Piesiewicz, mentioning that charges will be filed but he couldn’t disclose specifics. However, he did confirm that there’s an investigation surrounding a €40,000 watch allegedly gifted to Piesiewicz by Przemysław Kral, the former head of Zondacrypto.
When Piesiewicz took charge at PKOl, they signed a sponsorship deal with Zondacrypto in 2025, making the company the primary sponsor for the Polish team at the recent Winter Olympics held in Italy. But things took a downturn in April when reports surfaced from customers struggling to access their funds. Subsequently, the firm collapsed, and Kral is now reportedly hiding abroad. Prosecutors believe client losses could exceed 350 million zloty (around €81.4 million).
At the same press conference, Żurek elaborated on the ongoing investigation concerning Zondacrypto, which is suspected of being involved in extensive fraud and other criminal acts.
The situation has attracted media attention, with outlets such as Wirtualna Polska and TVN conducting a joint exposé suggesting that Piesiewicz may have accepted expensive gifts from Kral in return for advocating for Zondacrypto with Poland’s consumer protection authority, UOKiK. Piesiewicz has refuted these claims, asserting that he purchased the watch himself, with Kral only assisting in the transaction.
Piesiewicz has been a contentious figure since taking over PKOl in 2023 under the former national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government. In 2024, after PiS lost power, he had a public spat with the new Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, after Poland’s Olympic team returned with its worst performance in decades.
Amidst the crisis surrounding Zondacrypto, it was revealed that promised bonuses to Polish athletes following the Winter Olympics were not fulfilled. Recently, a significant number of PKOl’s members pushed for an extraordinary meeting focused solely on Piesiewicz’s dismissal, a meeting he has yet to acknowledge.
On Wednesday, the list of individuals and organizations under investigation by prosecutors included Piesiewicz and PKOl, as well as others affiliated with Poland’s right-wing opposition. Among them were foundations connected to deputy PiS leader Zbigniew Ziobro and former PiS politician Przemysław Wipler, who is now part of the far-right Confederation; additionally, some conservative media outlets were mentioned.
Earlier this year, Tusk suggested that Zondacrypto’s financial success might have connections to Russian money, potentially linked to criminal groups and security services in Russia. His ruling coalition has tried three times to pass legislation to better regulate the cryptocurrency market, only for these efforts to be blocked by opposition-aligned President Karol Nawrocki, who claims the regulations are excessively harsh.
In a recent social media post, Tusk hinted at the ongoing scandal surrounding Zondacrypto, implying that there were dubious financial incentives involved in the political arena. In response, PiS members have denied any wrongdoing and expressed outrage at the implications that the party somehow benefited illegally from its dealings with Zondacrypto. One MP called such suggestions baseless and an attempt to distract from the current government’s issues.
