The former head of a Polish government agency at the center of a corruption scandal will remain in custody in London after failing to pay the full bail amount set by an English court.
Michał Kuczmierowski, who was in charge of the Government Strategic Reserves Agency (RARS) from 2021 to 2024, was detained in the UK after Poland issued an international arrest warrant for him on charges of exceeding his official powers for financial gain while in office, and participating in an organized crime group.
A London court ruled that he could be released on bail comprising a sum of £200,000 and a property guarantee of £365,000.
But on Wednesday the Westminster Magistrates' Court told Polish state news agency PAP that Kuczmierowski, who is awaiting an extradition hearing, had been unable to provide the full amount required.
Kuczmierowski is one of up to 60 ex-ministers and state officials from the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government, which ruled from 2015 to 2023, who are now facing criminal proceedings or have come under investigation from parliamentary enquiries.
The current government, dominated by the Civic Coalition grouping of Donald Tusk, the centrist prime minister, has made punishing those it believes responsible for financial wrongdoings during the PiS years a priority.
The investigation into irregularities at RARS centers around the alleged awarding of contracts without the open tender process required by the Polish law.
Another high-profile figure in the RARS investigation, entrepreneur Paweł Szopa, was arrested last year in the Dominican Republic and deported to Poland in October.
The founder of a Polish patriotic-themed clothing brand has been accused of defrauding public coffers of large amounts of money by collaborating with Kuczmierowski to secure public contracts without a tender.
