Security agency warned Tusk over Amber Gold scam in May 2012 – report
Poland’s former Prime Minister Donald Tusk was warned of the criminal nature of the Amber Gold shadow banking institution as early as May 2012, according to a report by the wSieci weekly magazine.
The warning came in the form of a note from the Internal Security Agency (ABW), which provided Tusk with information about the fraudulent nature of the lender, owned by a businessman identified as Marcin P. (full name withheld under Polish privacy laws).
According to the weekly, "this newly revealed piece of evidence is one of the most guarded documents related to the affair so far".
The note was drawn up at a time when Amber Gold was siphoning off money from investors hoping to "strike it rich", the weekly says in its latest issue, which goes on sale on Monday.
"Why wasn’t this fraudulent operation stopped in its tracks just then?", wSieci asks.
It suggests the security services of the time were "just pretending to be working" and that their operations should be viewed in terms of "sabotage".
NOTE: The Amber Gold shadow bank, which proved to be a pyramid scheme, was to invest clients' money in gold and other precious metals. Marcin P. and his wife, the couple who ran the bank in the years 2009-2012, have been charged with swindling more than 18,000 people out of savings worth around PLN 850 million (EUR 200 mln). Since August 2012, they have been in custody awaiting lawsuit. If convicted, they face up to 15 years in jail.
The controversy around Amber Gold became exposed in July 2012 when the OLT Express airlines, owned by the shadow bank, began to run into financial problems. All the carrier's regular flights were suspended, and the company announced it was withdrawing from its investment in the airline.
The ongoing investigation, including the one of MP Malgorzata Wasserman-headed Sejm commission probes, among others, exceptional laxness previous government's financial authorities applied towards the emergence and the very operation of Amber Gold shadow bank, all to recurring signals of suspicious activity of the institution.
On Wednesday the commission questioned the former head of Amber Gold Marcin P.(PAP)
