Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Gambling Scandal Fallout Continues In Poland

From: Casino Gambling Web
Andrzej Czuma
Government officials trying to lighten the load on casinos in Poland is now an international story and late this week the fallout from that scandal continued. Four top ranking officials have all been removed from their jobs.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk cleaned house this week, removing Andrzej Czuma, the Justice Minister, and Grzegorz Schetyna, the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister from their jobs. Two more officials followed in losing their jobs in the government shortly after.

Recent events related to the gambling act raise justified doubts among Poles," said Prime Minister Tusk, "For the government to work in an atmosphere of trust and impartiality, my colleagues and I want to do everything to convince Poles, but also our opponents, about our impartiality."

Word spread earlier this week of how government officials tried to stop the gambling bill that would have raised taxes on the casino gaming industry. Those government officials had ties to the industry, and many believe they were protecting the interests of the casinos.

Deputy Economy Minister Adam Szejnfeld submitted his resignation and perhaps the biggest firing came at the hands of Mariusz Kaminski, head of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau. He is accused of forging documents in 2007 and overstepping the boundaries of his position.