Poland's Ex-Bank Regulator Freed After Two Months in Detention

(Bloomberg) -- Marek Chrzanowski, the former head of Poland’s financial-industry regulator, was released from detention Saturday two months after his arrest on corruption charges.

His release followed a local court’s rejection of requests from prosecutors to extend the initial detention period for another month.

Chrzanowski, a protege of central bank Governor Adam Glapinski, is alleged to have offered favorable treatment to banks controlled by Czarnecki, the owner of Getin Noble Bank SA and Idea Bank SA, in return for employing a recommended lawyer, according to a transcript of a conversation secretly recorded by the businessman. Chrzanowski resigned the day the newspaper report came out, while rejecting accusations that he sought a bribe.

Glapinski, a colleague of ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, was pulled back into a bribery scandal this week. Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper reported Thursday that Chrzanowski told prosecutors that Glapinski instructed him to meet Czarnecki last March when the alleged incident occurred. Glapinski has repeatedly denied any involvement in the scandal.

To contact the reporter on this story: Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw at mstrzelecki1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann, James Amott

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