The Court of Appeals in Łódź has reaffirmed the verdict in the case of the spectacular robbery of 8 million zlotys that took place in Swarzędz (Greater Poland). False convoy guard has escaped with the van full of cash. The main suspect and his three accomplices have been sentenced.
In 2015, Krzysztof W. got hired in a security firm after presenting false document - he was the one who drove away in an armoured van full of cash. The man was found guilty of stealing a substantial amount of money and being a member of an organized crime group. He was sentenced for 8 years and 2 months in prison. On top of that, he must pay 200,000-zloty fine.
According to the court, also guilty is the former police officer Adam K. He will have to spend 6 years and 2 months behind bars and pay 150,000 zlotys.
This is a harsher sentence than the one the prosecutor Łukasz Biela was asking for Adam K. The prosecutor argued that K. should be given a less severe punishment for his cooperation with the investigators (thanks to his testimony, the remaining members of the group were detained). His request was made despite the fact that after the ruling by the court of first instance, K. disappeared and an arrest warrant was issued after him.
Another accused, Marek K. will spend 7 years in prison.
Dariusz D. who helped the false convoy guard to move the money from one vehicle to another, has been sentenced for 6 years in prison (prosecutors' also requested the court treat him less harshly).
The six
The robbery took place in July 2015 in Swarzędz. Krzysztof W., drove away in a truck with cash. The vehicle was shortly after. The driver disappeared with the money. Krzysztof W., a tailor by trade, got hired in a security firm a few months before, under false identity. In order to prepare for the robbery, he changed his appearance. He shaved his head, grew a beard and was taking special supplements that helped him to gain weight.
The stolen bank van has been wiped with choride and abandoned in a forest. For a few months, the police weren't able to determine who was behind the robbery. The mystery began to unfold when Adam K. was detained after he had asked his wife and father-in-law to pay some of the stolen money to a bank account. So far, only several hundred thousand zlotys have been recovered.
In total, six people have been detained in connection with the case and all ended up in dock. Four of them were accused of being members of an organized crime group and stealing a substantial amount of money. Among them were Dariusz D. and Adam K. at whose place they are said to have split the stolen cash, as well as Marek K. who is said to have participated in planning the heist and secured the transit. The fourth accused was Krzysztof W.
The remaining two people, Agnieszka K. and Wojciech M. are said to have helped in hiding the cash and paid 250,000 zlotys to an account in one of the banks. Adam K. is said to have handed the cash over to them.
The ghost
In the course of the investigation, the prosecutors found out that behind the meticulously planned heist, among others, stood Grzegorz Łuczak - a former police officer and vice chairman of the robbed security firm.
He disappeared without a trace in September 2015. He was hiding so well that many investigators seriously considered that he may have been dead. Some police officers that looked for him started to call him "the ghost".
Łuczak was hiding in Ukraine. He was caught last year. The "headhunters", namely the special police unit from Poznań, said that he was a very skillful adversary.
"He was deliberately misleading us. He was sending false traces. However, we've managed to determine that he had crossed the border with Ukraine. He was using false identity at the time," one of the "hunters" told tvn24.pl.
The prosecutors investigated his role in the heist in a separate inquiry. His trial will take place in Łódź.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: TVN24