The organized crime group was broken up and two citizens of Ukraine were detained on October 4, 2022 in Łódź.  

 The detained persons, i.e. a 37-year-old woman and her 38-year-old husband, are suspected of directing and participating in a criminal group dealing with organizing other people (mainly Ukrainian citizens) to cross the border of the Republic of Poland contrary to the regulations.

It should be mentioned that in an additional investigation, two Ukrainian citizens who had been in pre-trial detention for almost a year were detained. All persons were charged with organizing other persons to cross the border of the Republic of Poland against the provisions of the law, from which they took a financial advantage and made a permanent source of income from the criminal practice.

The procedure, which lasted for over two years, involved 106 companies established throughout the country, conducting fictitious business activities, established only and exclusively for the purpose of registering declarations on entrusting work to a foreigner and seasonal work permits. Then, through the obtained documents at the Poviat Employment Offices, e.g. in Łódź, Gdańsk, Gdynia, Szczecin, Kielce, foreigners were allowed to cross the border of the Republic of Poland and legalize their stay in Poland. The members of the group are also suspected of opening bank accounts for fictitious companies and using false information in declarations that assured about employment of foreigners in these companies.

It is estimated that by acting in this way, the members of the group could facilitate the legalization of stay in our country for several thousand foreigners, obtaining a payment from each of them in the amount from 100 to 570 zlotys.

During the activities in Łódź, four premises were searched, including flats and company headquarters, where numerous documentation regarding the employment of foreigners in Poland was secured, as well as mobile phones, SIM cards and computers as evidence of illegal practice. On the spot, the officers also seized cash in various currencies in the amount of over PLN 50,000. zlotys.

The suspects confessed to having committed the alleged acts. A preventive measure was imposed on the woman in the form of: bail in the amount of PLN 15,000, police supervision and obligation to appear twice a month at the Municipal Police Headquarters in Łódź and a ban on leaving the territory of the Republic of Poland. However, against her 38-year-old partner, the prosecutor applied to the Łódź-Śródmieście District Court for a preventive measure in the form of temporary arrest for a period of three months.