Polish prosecutors have asked Interpol to issue a ‘Red Notice’ for a former deputy justice minister suspected of misusing public funds.
Marcin Romanowski is the highest-profile official to date implicated by an investigation into alleged criminality under the previous government. He was placed on Poland’s wanted list last week in the wake of a court decision for his pre-trial detention.
Following the decision, police searched Romanowski’s known addresses but could not find him.
He is wanted in connection with accusations the previous government abused money set aside for the victims of crime. Romanowski faces 11 charges, including granting unlawful subsidies from the Justice Fund.
A financial instrument originally set up to help victims of crime, the fund was allegedly used, according to critics of the previous government, to make irregular payments and reward supporters.
Romanowski was released from detention in July on the grounds of the immunity he enjoyed as a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. However, the Council of Europe waived his immunity in October.
On Wednesday, Poland’s national prosecutor, Dariusz Korneluk, told public radio the prosecution service had on Tuesday requested an Interpol red notice—a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a suspect.
Korneluk also said that on Wednesday prosecutors would ask a court to issue a European Arrest Warrant for Romanowski. The national prosecutor said the two requests meant that Romanowski is believed to have left the country.
The Polish government has made investigating alleged malpractice and wrongdoing by its predecessor a priority.
