Chairman of the Polish Olympic Committee Arrested Over Alleged Crypto Bribery

ChainCatcher report: On Thursday, Radosław Piasecki, President of the Polish Olympic Committee, was arrested on suspicion of accepting kickbacks from the cryptocurrency platform Zondacrypto during the signing of a sponsorship agreement. Polish Minister of Sport Jakub Rudnicki confirmed the arrest on X, stating, “Such a person should never have been President of the Polish Olympic Committee; Piasecki has brought shame upon Polish Olympic sports.” Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński called him “a symbol of extreme corruption plaguing the Olympic movement.” According to the investigation, Piasecki facilitated a sponsorship agreement between the Polish Olympic Committee and Zondacrypto in October 2025, which stipulated cryptocurrency rewards for athletes winning medals at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. The Polish government alleges that Zondacrypto had ties to nationalist opposition groups, organized crime, and Russian intelligence agencies, and estimates that the platform’s collapse caused approximately 350 million zlotys (around €80 million) in losses, affecting roughly 30,000 people. The Interior Minister described Zondacrypto as “effectively a Ponzi scheme.” Media investigations also revealed that Piasecki received a Patek Philippe watch worth approximately €40,000 from Zondacrypto’s CEO, Przemysław Klar, claiming he had purchased it himself. Klar is currently cooperating with prosecutors in exchange for a reduced sentence. Zondacrypto was founded in 2014 by Sylwester Suszek, who disappeared in 2022; his position was subsequently taken over by Klar. Polish prosecutors launched an investigation in April of this year, after which most Polish sports federations called for Piasecki’s resignation.