Keep our news free from ads and paywalls by making a donation to support our work!
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Poland says it has broken up an international criminal group responsible for laundering an estimated 337 million zloty (€77 million) by using currency exchange offices to illegally process money obtained from internet scams.
Nine suspects – eight Ukrainians and one Belarusian – have been detained in a series of raids, which also resulted in the seizure of gold and cash worth over 1 million zloty.
Służby rozbiły międzynarodową grupę zajmującą się praniem pieniędzy z oszustw inwestycyjnych i kryptowalut. Zatrzymano 9 osób, a skala transakcji przekroczyła 337 mln zł. Zabezpieczono złoto i gotówkę wartą ponad 1 mln zł. @Straz_Graniczna @PolicjaCBZC @ABW_GOV_PL pic.twitter.com/g2NQoqaPvP
— Marcin Kierwiński (@MKierwinski) October 19, 2026
The accused – four women and five men aged between 26 and 53 – were arrested in Łódź, Warsaw and Małopolska province, announced Krzysztof Kopania, spokesman for the Łódź regional prosecutor’s office, which is leading the investigation.
The detainees are four female cashiers, three men running the exchange offices, and two couriers used to transport money. All have been charged with participating in an organised criminal group and money laundering. They could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors say that the gang, which operated in the cities of Warsaw, Lublin, Wrocław, Katowice and Gdańsk, collected money that had been obtained through internet fraud and transported it to cryptocurrency exchanges. It was then processed without complying with anti-money laundering procedures.
Proceeds were then transferred to bank accounts, sent abroad by car, or concealed in fictitious purchases of gold. Most money was ultimately invested in cryptocurrencies.
“The scale of the operation was enormous,” said Kopania. “It is estimated that between February 2025 and July 2026, members of the group took steps to conceal the origins of approximately 337 million zloty.”
The ringleader was a 34-year-old Ukrainian national who made the key decisions and oversaw the domestic and international channelling of funds obtained from illegal sources, according to the Internal Security Agency (ABW) and border guard, which were also involved in the operation.
Seven of the accused have been placed in pre-trial detention for three (or in one case two) months, while two have been bailed and ordered not to leave Poland.
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Straż Graniczna