“We can confirm that. The whole procedure at the prosecution service is not public but we can disclose that in January, 2017 the foundation, executing the duty related to the supervision of reports of the Association of Poles in Lithuania’s board and the main evaluation of financial subsidies, found serious violations of Polish law and accounting rules,” Malgorzata Aleksandrowicz, a board assistant at the Polish foundation, told BNS Lithuania.
In its request to launch a pre-trial investigation, the Polish foundation states that part of funds allocated to the Association of Poles in Lithuania’s board were used for purposes other than had been agreed or were not used for specific projects, and there we attempts to hide that from the foundation.
According to the foundation, to ensure complete transparency of subsidies and having identified legal and accounting violations, the board „informed the prosecution service about suspected crime and damage to the Polish foundation “Aid to Poles in the East and the Republic of Poland’s State Treasury.
The Association of Poles in Lithuania has been led by Michal Mackevic, an MP representing the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance, for many years. He was re-elected for a new term last weekend.
Lithuanian news website zw.lt reported on Friday that Mackevic was summoned by Polish Ambassador to Lithuania Urszula Doroszewska earlier in the day. Speaking to Polish media outlets on Saturday, he criticized both the foundation and the ambassador, saying that the ambassador pressured him into not stand for re-election as leader of the Association of Poles in Lithuania.
BNS Lithuania has not been able yet to contact Mackevič for comment.
Aleksandrowicz confirmed that Mackevic has received Polish prosecutors’ invitation to provide explanations. She said the foundation checked the 2016 reports and handed materials over to prosecutors last year.
Representatives of the Polish prosecution service have not provided any information on the probe yet.