Arrest of the former president of Plus Bank, defended by GESSEL’s litigation department, ruled unlawful

July 2019 witnessed the first series of arrests associated with alleged irregularities in the lending practices of Plus Bank, with further arrests in 2020. CBA, the Polish anti-corruption police, detained a total of 23 individuals, including members of the Management Board and Plus Bank’s former president.

Despite motions submitted by the public prosecution service, Plus Bank’s former president – advised by a defence team composed of Piotr Schramm, partner, Paweł Kwiatkowski, managing associate and Martyna Milka, associate – was not held in remand.

The Criminal Court in Poznan has now ruled that the arrest of Plus Bank’s former president was baseless and unlawful.

“…we are very satisfied, and our faith in the independence of the polish justice system remains unshaken …”
– Piotr Schramm

Invest Bank, as Plus Bank was known until 2013, was founded in Poznan in 1991 by the businessman Piotr Bykowski. In the late 1990s, it became a part of the holdings of Zygmunt Solorz-Żak, best known as owner of the Polsat television network.