The WGI case is back on the docket
The Court of Appeal in Warsaw overturned the acquittal of the former Management Board of WGI. The trial will begin anew.
Warszawska Grupa Inwestycyjna (WGI) went bankrupt 16 years ago. The company operated as a brokerage house. It invested money entrusted to it by clients in the foreign exchange market. As a result of its collapse, 1156 people lost PLN 247.9 million. The real losses can be estimated today at nearly PLN 640 million. The prosecution accused the managers of WGI of causing these losses. They defended themselves saying that the losses resulted from inept actions of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which revoked their brokerage license. This was the institution that preceded today’s Financial Supervision Commission (KNF). The District Court in Warsaw cleared the WGI managers of the charges. However, the appellate court overturned the acquittal. It sent the case back to the court of first instance for reconsideration.
The first judgment was delivered there in late 2020. The case proceeded for nearly 10 years.
Jerzy Leder, the presiding judge of the Court of Appeals in Warsaw, justifies that if the supervision had not revoked WGI’s license, the losses of WGI’s clients could have been much higher. The prosecutor Marek Skrzetuski claims that the judge relied only on the defendants’ explanations. Thisi s are contrary to other evidence gathered in the case.
Source: https://www.pb.pl/sprawa-wgi-to-nie-porazka-ale-kleska-wymiaru-sprawiedliwosci-1154552
