WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Poland’s opposition on Monday called for the dismissal of the nation’s chief auditor following allegations that he let his house to a business which rented rooms by the hour and didn’t issue receipts.
The allegations that surfaced over the weekend are a new embarrassment for the ruling right-wing party ahead of Oct. 13 parliamentary elections, which the Law and Justice party is nevertheless expected to win.
Private TVN24 said over the weekend that Marian Banas, head of the Supreme Audit Office and former finance minister, let a house he owns in the southern city of Krakow to a shady business. It is illegal in Poland to facilitate prostitution.
Banas, who was appointed three weeks ago, said in a statement he had let the house for hotel purposes but has since sold it. He said he was taking TVN24 to court.
TVN24 hidden camera footage showed a reporter making payment to use a room for one hour, but not being given a receipt - in violation of fiscal law.
Questioned about it by the reporter, the man at the counter could be heard saying that he needed to call Banas about how to reply.
TVN24 also questioned whether security services had properly vetted Banas for his various government jobs.
The Central Anti-Corruption Bureau said Monday it was still checking his 2015-2019 property reports and could not reveal details.
Justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro vowed consequences should any irregularities be found, while other ruling party members were protesting Banas’ honesty. But the opposition says the allegations call for Banas’s dismissal.
The governing populist party has suffered other recent embarrassments. A deputy justice minister was fired for allegedly encouraging an online hate campaign against judges critical of the government, while Poland’s parliament speaker was forced to resign for having frequently taken family members on government jet flights.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.