Polish authorities detained Radosław Piesiewicz, president of the Polish Olympic Committee, on Thursday. The arrest is part of a criminal investigation into digital asset platform Zondacrypto, Poland’s attorney general announced.
At issue: whether Zondacrypto’s chief executive gave Piesiewicz a luxury watch worth over $40,000 in exchange for political favors. That allegation comes from a joint investigation by Polish outlets TVN24 and Wirtualna Polska. Piesiewicz has said he bought the watch himself, with cash. The claim has not been independently verified.
A national sporting body’s leadership is now tangled up in a crypto-industry corruption case. The two worlds rarely collide this publicly.
What the Prosecutors Are Examining
The investigation centers on allegations that Piesiewicz accepted bribes in return for sponsorship arrangements linked to Zondacrypto, Euro.news reported. Under the purported arrangement, Olympic medalists at the Winter Olympics would have received prizes denominated in cryptocurrency. The plan was first reported in February.
The Silesian Department of the National Prosecutor’s Office is handling the proceedings. Further detail on the specific charges has not been released.
Waldemar Żurek, Poland’s Minister of Justice, said in a post on X that “the Prosecutor’s Office will provide further information after the completion of proceedings involving him, conducted at the Silesian Department of the National Prosecutor’s Office.”
That part is new. Polish authorities had not previously linked the Piesiewicz case to the broader Zondacrypto investigation at this level.
Political Context
The detention follows Zondacrypto’s collapse in April. A liquidity crisis left users unable to withdraw funds. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk had accused the firm earlier this year of having ties to the Russian mafia and secret service. Tusk said the exchange sponsored a CPAC event in Poland last year, where former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem voiced support for Nawrocki’s presidential bid, the Associated Press reported.
Put another way, the Piesiewicz detention is not an isolated event. It is the latest thread in a politically charged investigation that has already reached the prime minister’s office.
Reactions
Jakub Rutnicki, Poland’s Sport and Tourism Minister, did not mince words on X. “We’ve been talking about this for months, and the sports community is also speaking out about it,” he wrote. “Piesiewicz has disgraced Polish Olympism and exploited the image of Polish athletes. We are awaiting information from the prosecutor’s office.”
Rutnicki added that Piesiewicz “should never have been the president of the PKOl.”
What Is Not Known
Zondacrypto’s chief executive is not named in the reporting. Whether Piesiewicz has been formally charged, or detained for questioning, is not specified. His current detention status, whether he has been released, held, or released on bail, is not stated. Zondacrypto has not issued a public statement on the matter. No direct comment from Piesiewicz beyond his assertion about the watch has been reported.
The exact legal mechanism remains unclear. Whether the probe is structured as a bribery investigation, an abuse-of-office inquiry, or both depends on filings the National Prosecutor’s Office has not yet released.
