Polish prosecutors said on Tuesday that they were investigating the Swiss unit of state-controlled refiner PKN Orlen for reported links with Hezbollah.
The announcement came a day after Polish media reported that the former head of Orlen Trading Switzerland (OTS), Samer A., was connected to the Iran-backed movement – accusations he denies.
Polish media reported that Samer A. was made president of OTS – created in 2022 – despite negative opinions from security services, at the express request of former Orlen president Daniel Obajtek.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk subsequently called a meeting between prosecutors and the special services regarding the "possible ties to Hezbollah."
National prosecutor Dariusz Korneluk called the case "very shocking" on Tuesday, adding that Orlen had transferred more than 1.5 billion zloty ($370 million) to its Swiss subsidiary without any supervision while OTS was headed by Samer A.
The sum had notably been used to order Venezuelan oil which was never delivered, according to an Orlen report released last week.
Samer A. had previously been suspected of trading Iranian oil.
The former right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government has widely been accused of having used Orlen to finance its political projects.
The whereabouts of Samer A. and Daniel Obajtek are currently unknown, despite the latter being mentioned as a potential candidate for the nationalist PiS party in the upcoming European elections.
With AFP
The announcement came a day after Polish media reported that the former head of Orlen Trading Switzerland (OTS), Samer A., was connected to the Iran-backed movement – accusations he denies.
Polish media reported that Samer A. was made president of OTS – created in 2022 – despite negative opinions from security services, at the express request of former Orlen president Daniel Obajtek.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk subsequently called a meeting between prosecutors and the special services regarding the "possible ties to Hezbollah."
National prosecutor Dariusz Korneluk called the case "very shocking" on Tuesday, adding that Orlen had transferred more than 1.5 billion zloty ($370 million) to its Swiss subsidiary without any supervision while OTS was headed by Samer A.
The sum had notably been used to order Venezuelan oil which was never delivered, according to an Orlen report released last week.
Samer A. had previously been suspected of trading Iranian oil.
The former right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) government has widely been accused of having used Orlen to finance its political projects.
The whereabouts of Samer A. and Daniel Obajtek are currently unknown, despite the latter being mentioned as a potential candidate for the nationalist PiS party in the upcoming European elections.
With AFP
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