<>The Nightmare -
Summary
This is a true story about a Polish American from
Chicago who
invested in Poland. He was victim of tremendous fraud and
larceny. Secondly he was a victim of the
courts’ and courts agents that defrauded him.
As a result of these facts his attorney in Poland
had a heart attack and died.
Five hundred cases like Adam Kierczynski?
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I thought that after I had written about the case of Adam
Kierczynski, nothing could surprise me.
Of course I know that Mr. Kierczynski is only one of the victims
of
special political situation in Poland
called the round table agreement. That means the lack of expulsion of
former
communist officials, prosecutors, and judges. And as a matter of fact
former
communist secret police called SB still govern Poland
and especially its members who are not under the constraints of the
law. Thanks
to calls to our editorial office I can estimate that in the Chicagoland
area
there can be as many as 500 cases similar to Adam Kierczynski’s. Of
course I
know the real situation in Poland;
still I was surprised that so many investors from Chicagoland were
cheated in
their ancestral homeland. It can be hard to believe that the situation
in Poland
as described really exists. But even in
my worst nightmare I wasn’t prepared for something like the case of
Andrzej
Krzysztofiak.
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A short summary of the case of Andrzej Krzysztofiak
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There are two main components to this case. Mr.
Andrzej Krzysztofiak is a US
citizen since 1992 and green card holder since 1984, who was accepted
to the United States
in order to reunite family
members. Mr. Krzysztofiak because of
changes in economic policy in Poland
in 1988 as well as invitation from the Polish Government to invest in Poland
built a factory in Bochnia, near the city of Krakow. His factory employed 198 employees. His factory produced leather products
including apparel and raw leather hides precut for assembly. Mr. Krzysztofiak had purchased 100,000
sheepskin
pelts per year from the United States
as raw material for his products. He had
also purchased all the industrial equipment required for production
from the United States.
The business grew exponentially and thrived within a short
period of
time. But suddenly in 1991,
his director of operations “ who was part of
individuals above the law” perpetrated a
tremendous fraud by stealing from the accounts as well as fraudulently
securing
credit for himself by placing debt on Andrzej Krzysztofiak’s company. The sums reached in the billions of Polish
Zloty. The director’s actions ultimately
destroyed any possibility of this company receiving any future credit. As a final result the company closed in
1995. All attempts to retrieve the
losses through legal proceedings have failed.
Even though the thief is now very rich man in Poland,
a US
citizen
has not seen a penny in restitution. In
2005 Andrzej Krzysztofiak received a verdict from the Polish
Court after a scandalously long proceeding
that
ultimately was to bring satisfaction against the thief. This
verdict was at best insulting based on
the fact that the verdict offered pennies on the dollar for restitution. Even
this small victory was short lived. The
court’s agents acted with malice to undermine the verdict.
As of today there has been no restitution for
Andrzej Krzysztofiak.
All the above is just minor problem in the case. The thief described above was very
resourceful. As a matter of fact he
seemed to be above the law. He opened a
new company and made Mr. Krzysztofiak his partner. Of course Mr.
Krzysztofiak
did not know about this new company at all.
After some time the thief dragged Mr. Krzysztofiak into court
for
breaking the terms of the partnership.
Mr. Krzysztofiak had a judgment placed against him for failing
to
provide resources and funds as a partner.
The resources included 20,000 skins and liquid capital in
significant
amounts. After the courts judgment the
thief received an executive order against Mr. Krzysztofiak assets. Mr.
Krzysztofiak was not informed of the case against him; he had never
been summoned
about this case. As a matter of fact he
was not aware of the situation at all!
The trial and judgment were conducted and decided in his
absence.
Mr. Krzysztofiak found out about the judgment and
executive
order by accident in 2007. Needless to
say he was furious. Luckily he was able to prove that at the time the
signing
of this partnership he was in the United
States,
while the signing took place in Poland. The proof was irrefutable based on stamps in
his Passport. Consequently it was proven
that the thief had forged Mr. Krzysztofiak’s signature and misled the
court
twice. Under such circumstances the
thief was even convicted and sentenced: suspended
1 ½ year sentence. After that Mr. Krzysztofiak wanted to remove
the judgment
and executive order against him from this falsified partnership. But the Polish Court of Appeals rejected
his
motion and upheld the judgment and executive order!
Mr. Andrzej Krzysztofiak appealed to the
highest Polish officials such as the Attorney General of Poland, The
Chief
Office of Human Rights, etc. They all
rejected his appeals and upheld the absurd judgment in favor of the
thief!
For now Mr. Krzysztofiak can not pursue any
economic
activity or hold assets for fear of seizure.
The Question
Mr. Andrzej Krzysztofiak had exhausted all
possible courses
of action within the Polish Legal system.
Now the question arises: “Do we allow an American Citizen to be
treated
in this manner?” By the way, is it
surprising that the attorney hired by a Polish American, after hearing
such
absurd verdicts in the Polish Court of Appeals had a heart attack and
died?
The
articles
titled “Nightmare”, in Polish daily
newspaper “Kurier Codzieny” consist of
six parts that piece together with details the excruciating ordeal of
this Polish
American Citizen.