Tomasz Lepper, the son of late Samoobrona founder Andrzej Lepper, has sent a letter to Justice Minister Waldemar Żuk seeking roughly four million zlotys in compensation for the land‑fraud scandal.
Tomasz Lepper Demands Compensation; Sends Letter to Waldemar Żuk
Tomasz Lepper wrote to Justice Minister Waldemar Żuk requesting compensation from the infamous land‑fraud case. He said his family seeks about four million zlotys and would like to discuss details in person. A letter from his lawyer was sent over a month ago, but no response has been received, prompting disappointment at the minister’s silence. Lepper says the ministry has suffered baseless slanders and persecution by the ruling PiS party.
Tomasz Lepper Accuses State Officials of Perfidious Entrapment
Lepper claims that the compensation could be paid from funds held by the Justice Fund. He alleges that state officials on duty, namely former head of the Central Anti‑Corruption Office Mariusz Kamiński and his deputy Maciej Wąsik, perfidiously engaged his father. Both were subsequently sentenced in December 2023 to two years’ imprisonment for abuse of power, and they were pardoned in January 2024 by former President Andrzej Duda.
Land‑Fraud Scandal Triggered Lepper’s Resignation and Coalition Collapse
The scandal began in 2007 when the Counter‑Corruption Bureau staged a provocation. Agents posing as Swiss entrepreneurs offered bribes in exchange for assistance in clearing land in Mazur. The investigation suggested that some of the bribe money was to be passed to then‑Vice‑Prime Minister Andrzej Lepper. Lepper did not receive the bribe; a leak is said to have revealed the plot, leading Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński to dismiss him and causing the governing coalition to disintegrate.
Legal Findings Against Mariusz Kamiński and Maciej Wąsik
The inquiry found that Kamiński and Wąsik engaged in unlawful activities, including using a provocation with falsified documents and installing wiretaps in hotel rooms without approval from the prosecutor’s office or the court. Lepper described the Counter‑Corruption Bureau’s operation as a “scurrilous provocation.” Proceedings against Lepper were halted after his death in 2011.
