Prosecutor discontinues inquiry into misconduct in ventilators purchase

Civic Coalition MPs Dariusz Joński and Michał Szczerba informed at a press conference on Monday they received a decision from the prosecutor's office saying that an inquiry into possible misconduct by Health Ministry officials was discontinued. The case pertained to a purchase of ventilators in 2020.

Szczerba reminded the discontinuation pertained to two PiS politicians: former health minister Łukasz Szumowski and his then deputy Janusz Cieszyński.

"Let's look at this decision and justification to it in the context of deputy PM Kaczyński's bizarre statement issued on January 29, in which he said he did not find any misconduct, corruption or any other illegal activities during the purchase of the ventilators" - Szczerba said.

"A carbon copy of deputy PM Kaczyński's argumentation, rewritten by the prosecutor's office. We might say that not only it interfered in decisions of independent prosecutor's office, but also told the prosecutors exactly what they should do about it" - he said.

"It seems that in the PiS state the party chairman decides about guilt and punishment, rather than the prosecutor" - Joński said.

In June we informed about a budget spending control relating to health care carried out by the Supreme Audit Office. One of the elements of this inquiry pertained to ventilators purchased by the Health Ministry from an arms dealer. E&K company, which was supposed to deliver 1,241 devices, delivered only 200 and past the agreed date.

In a document, seen by tvn24.pl, the NIK stated there had been "irregularities in public procurements, lack of proper protection of payments made by the Health Ministry to buy ventilators". The auditors also confirmed concerns raised by Szczerba and Joński, who had found out during a parliamentary control that the E&K company did not issue normal invoices for the ventilators, but 'pro forma' ones".

Last month, Joński said that the arms trader still owed Health Ministry 50 million zlotys.