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🇵🇱 Poland /Crime & Justice

Zbigniew Ziobro Accepted Money from Przemysław Kral and Admits He Made a Mistake

From Rzeczpospolita · () Polish

Translated from Polish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • Zbigniew Ziobro told Gazeta Wyborcza that a foundation linked to him received 450,000 zlotys from Przemysław Kral, the head of failed cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto.
  • Ziobro said the donation followed a meeting arranged by former CBA officer Artur Chodziński, and admitted that he had not sufficiently verified Kral.
  • Prosecutors are examining possible crimes linked to Zondacrypto’s financing of organizations including Ziobro’s foundation, while Ziobro denies allegations in a separate Justice Fund investigation.

Zbigniew Ziobro says he would not have accepted a 450,000-zloty donation from Przemysław Kral if he had known then what is known about the businessman today. “I admit that we verified Mr. Kral far too superficially,” the former justice minister told Gazeta Wyborcza.

I admit that we verified Mr. Kral far too superficially. If I had learned then what is known about the businessman today, I would not have accepted the donation.

· Zbigniew ZiobroHis admission about the 450,000-zloty donation to a foundation linked to him.

The money reached the account of a foundation linked to Ziobro several months after he met Artur Chodziński, a former Central Anti-Corruption Bureau officer. Chodziński had worked for Kral for several months after retiring and, according to the report, contacted Ziobro on behalf of the head of Zondacrypto.

Ziobro said Chodziński presented Kral as “a serious businessman, associated with the largest company in this financial sector in our part of Europe.” One subject of their conversation involved Kral’s criminal case. A court acquitted Kral in 2023, but an appeals court overturned that ruling in 2025 and ordered a retrial. The case concerned preparations for a recording intended to undermine the credibility of a report about threats against a TVN journalist.

I knew as much about cryptocurrencies as I did about Egyptian hieroglyphs.

· Zbigniew ZiobroHis description of his limited knowledge of the cryptocurrency sector.

Ziobro said Chodziński described the legal conflict between Kral and TVN as a chain of mutual criminal and civil disputes, portraying Kral as someone unfairly targeted by the broadcaster. He said that, as justice minister and prosecutor general, he had not encountered the case, did not recognize Kral’s name and knew nothing about Zondacrypto. “I knew as much about cryptocurrencies as I did about Egyptian hieroglyphs,” he said.

a serious businessman, associated with the largest company in this financial sector in our part of Europe

· Zbigniew Ziobro, quoting Artur Chodziński’s description of Przemysław KralThe description Ziobro said Chodziński gave him before the meeting.

Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek recently said prosecutors were reviewing evidence concerning possible crimes linked to Zondacrypto’s funding of organizations, including the Institute of Sovereign Poland, a foundation associated with Ziobro. Ziobro is also a suspect in the Justice Fund investigation. Prosecutors accuse him of, among other things, leading an organized criminal group and using his office for criminal activity. He rejects the allegations as political.

a chain of mutual criminal and civil disputes

· Zbigniew Ziobro, describing Artur Chodziński’s accountHis characterization of how Chodziński presented Kral’s dispute with TVN.
About this summary

Originally published by Rzeczpospolita in Polish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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