The president of the Polish Olympic Committee, Radosław Piesiewicz, was arrested today as part of a corruption investigation linked to cryptocurrencies, according to officials.

Authorities launched the investigation in April, prompting most of Poland’s sports federations to call for Piesiewicz’s resignation. Police arrested the president of the Polish Olympic Committee on suspicion that he accepted bribes from a cryptocurrency trader in exchange for sponsorship deals, according to officials.

Radosław Piesiewicz, president of the Polish Olympic Committee, was brought to the prosecutor’s office, where he will be questioned and face charges.

Radosław Piesiewicz, who is considered a close associate of Poland’s nationalist right, may have received kickbacks from Zondacrypto, a company that the government accuses of having links to nationalist opposition groups, organized crime and Russian intelligence services.

“A person like this should never have become president of the Polish Olympic Committee”

“Radosław Piesiewicz has been arrested,” Poland’s Sports Minister Jakub Rutnicki confirmed in a post on X. “A person like this should never have become president of the Polish Olympic Committee… Piesiewicz has brought disgrace upon Polish Olympic sport,” he added.

Radosław Piesiewicz, head of the Polish Olympic Committee, has been detained by cybercrime authorities.

Piesiewicz was reportedly detained as part of an ongoing investigation into Zondacrypto, a cryptocurrency exchange facing allegations of fraud and money laundering.

Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński described Piesiewicz as a “symbol of the extreme corruption plaguing the Olympic movement.” He said Piesiewicz’s election as president of the Olympic Committee had been supported by the previous government, led by the nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS).

Cryptocurrency prizes for athletes

Authorities launched the investigation in April, prompting most of Poland’s sports federations to call for Piesiewicz’s resignation. They said Piesiewicz was responsible for signing a sponsorship agreement between the Olympic Committee and Zondacrypto, a cryptocurrency fund that has since halted its operations.

Under the agreement, medalists at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in February were to receive prizes in cryptocurrency. At best, payment of the bonuses was erratic.

The government estimates that the collapse of Zondacrypto caused losses of 350 million zlotys (€80 million), with around 30,000 people falling victim to the company. The interior minister said Zondacrypto was “in reality a Ponzi scheme.”

According to media reports, Piesiewicz received a watch worth approximately €40,000 from Zondacrypto chief Przemysław Kral. Piesiewicz has said that he purchased the watch with his own money. Reports say that Kral is now cooperating with prosecutors in an effort to secure a lighter sentence when he goes to trial. Piesiewicz is one of several names mentioned by prosecutors as part of the investigation into Zondacrypto.

Former Justice Minister and Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro has since fled to the United States, while his former deputy, Marcin Romanowski, is reportedly in a pro-Russian separatist region of Moldova. Prosecutors are also investigating Zondacrypto’s links to the nationalist-leaning television station Republika.

President Karol Nawrocki, a nationalist elected in 2025, has blocked legislation aimed at regulating Poland’s cryptocurrency market three times. Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Nawrocki’s political rival, told parliament that the founder of Zondacrypto had “disappeared” and was “very likely” dead. He said the Zondacrypto scandal involved money belonging to the “Russian mafia.”

The cryptocurrency company was founded in 2014 by Sylwester Suszek, who disappeared in 2022. Kral subsequently took over as head of the company.