Donald Tusk cites Zondacrypto testimony, alleges blackmail and Russian influence

Donald Tusk used a heated parliamentary debate over cryptocurrency regulation to present what he described as disturbing details from the Zondacrypto investigation. The prime minister said the case raised questions about Poland’s national security, political influence and the movement of large sums of money.

The Sejm was debating whether to reject the president’s veto of a bill regulating the cryptoasset market. The proposed rules would place Poland’s cryptocurrency market under the supervision of the Financial Supervision Authority and give state bodies tools to monitor capital flows.

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Everything indicates that very bad people have you by the throat.

The debate focused on the investigation into Zondacrypto, formerly known as BitBay. The case includes allegations of large-scale financial fraud, the unexplained disappearance of founder Sylwester Suszek and attempts to influence political decisions.

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Political suicide.

Before the vote, Tusk attacked opposition groups Law and Justice and Confederation for opposing the supervisory measures. “Everything indicates that very bad people have you by the throat,” he told their lawmakers. He also said that, based on what investigators had learned, voting against the bill would be “political suicide.”

Tusk said he had two excerpts from testimony in a prosecutorial file provided by the prosecutor general. One witness, describing an intermediary’s conversations with the then leadership of the Justice Ministry, allegedly said that “Zbyszek had reviewed the files.” The testimony attributed to a former justice minister a promise to intervene and, if he returned to the ministry, to “bury all these cases.”

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Zbyszek had reviewed the files.

The prime minister also cited testimony about an alleged promise of a pardon in exchange for financial support, including funding for U.S. conventions or advertising. The witness attributed the offer to a politician identified as “Mr. X” and described a scenario in which Karol Nawrocki would become president. Tusk said the excerpts represented only a small part of the evidence and warned that no politician or political party should take money from criminals or promise pardons to them.

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Bury all these cases.