New findings of the Supreme Audit Office regarding GetBack. "There were pressures"

• Ineffective and unreliable supervision by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, unclear actions and contacts of the prosecutor's office regarding the GetBack scandal and a multitude of procedural errors during the accelerated arrangement proceedings - these are the main accusations of the Supreme Audit Office against state authorities.
• - If state authorities had acted in accordance with the law, there would be no case, no fraud that ruined the lives of many people, which, in addition to money, also deprived us of dignity - say the aggrieved bondholders.
• - We are returning to the case in which offices and law enforcement agencies failed, to the case in which over nine thousand bondholders suffered losses of PLN 3.5 billion - says Marian Banaś, president of the Supreme Audit Office.

The Supreme Audit Office (NIK) conducted an audit of the activities of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority regarding the GetBack scandal. The results were shared with the media on Tuesday, July 8.

Bondholders lost over PLN 3.5 billion in the scandal

- Today we return to the outrageous case in which offices and law enforcement agencies failed. The results of our audit revealed a number of inadequate and unreliable actions on the part of the supervisory authorities. In some aspects, we even had no action at all and obvious sluggishness. As a result of the lack of reliability and appropriate involvement , over nine thousand bondholders lost over PLN 3.5 billion. The injured parties still cannot recover these funds - said the president of NIK, Marian Banaś, at the conference.

In the opinion of NIK, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority did not properly fulfill its obligations, despite a number of authorizations and signals that the Commission received from the financial market. NIK also formulates reservations regarding the work of the prosecutor's office.

- We are dealing with one of the largest financial scandals in history , and not everyone we approached during the audit wanted to cooperate with us. There was also pressure on the team analyzing the scandal and difficulties during the activities - NIK representatives indicated at the conference.

The Supreme Audit Office announced that it has evidence of links between politicians, fund managers and high-ranking public officials and the management of GetBack. However, this was classified by the prosecutor's office.

A flawed system and inefficient financial market supervision authorities

NIK recommends the establishment of a Sejm Investigative Committee into the GetBack scandal to check whether state institutions (KNF, prosecutor's office) were "deliberately inefficient" in the matter in question.

- The GetBack affair undermines trust in the state. It is not a mistake, but a structural flaw of the system - says Marian Banaś.

In the opinion of the NIK auditors, the chairman of the KNF (in 2018 it was Marek Chrzanowski), despite having the powers and signals from the market, did not take an active part in the accelerated arrangement proceedings of the GetBack company. In addition, the Commission is accused of a lack of proper supervision and reaction to the company's failure to comply with the obligation of timely and reliable reporting and the lack of conducting explanatory proceedings against intermediaries offering Getback bonds, who - according to NIK - were arbitrarily entered on the list of public warnings.

An entry on the KNF public warning list may result in serious consequences, including loss of financing and therefore liquidity.

What are aggrieved bondholders and brokers saying? "A fraud that takes away dignity"

The victims of the GetBack scandal, despite many years of fruitless battles, still do not lose hope of recovering their invested funds. However, money is not the only axis of the tragedy that has befallen these people.

- What happened to us is incomprehensible and scandalous. In the 21st century, in a civilized country that is part of the European Union, such a gigantic fraud took place, which continues to this day. If state authorities had acted in accordance with the law and the mission that lies before them, i.e. the protection of citizens, this case would not have happened. There would not have been a fraud that ruined our lives - say the aggrieved bondholders.

Victims indicate that the GetBack scandal has completely disrupted the attitude of trust in the state and has also destroyed faith in the financial system and security.

- We were convinced that the state would stand behind us in case of problems. After all, we invested on a regulated financial market. However, this did not happen. Losing money is one thing, but fear, stress and undermining trust in the state are also the real price for the GetBack scandal, which no one talks about. Not only was our money taken away, but also our dignity - the bondholders add.

The origins of the GetBack scandal, or who is responsible for the human drama?

The debt collection company GetBack was established in March 2012. In 2016, an entity controlled by Abris Capital Partners bought a majority stake in the company. In July 2017, GetBack debuted on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

According to a statement from the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw, representatives of the majority shareholder of Getback, representing Abris Capital Partners, are accused of creating an incorrect financing structure for GetBack , which resulted in the entity losing its financial liquidity , while at the same time making it impossible to continue its operations and meet its obligations.

In 2018, the media reported talks by the owner of GetBack regarding obtaining financing for PLN 250 million. The information turned out to be untrue, and shortly afterwards the Polish Financial Supervision Authority filed a report of suspicion of a crime committed by the management board of GetBack. The investigation was initiated in April 2018, and in June the former president of the company was detained. Earlier, in May 2018, an application for accelerated arrangement proceedings was filed, and a long-term drama of GetBack bondholders and intermediaries began.

According to the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw, prosecutors have so far issued a total of 26 substantive decisions in individual aspects of the case, including submitting 10 indictments to the courts and one motion for conditional discontinuance of the proceedings.