BGM at center of fuel mafia, police to make arrests soon

The Krakow prosecutor has evidence that companies involved in the fuel sector created an organized and hierarchical structure, which works like a mafia controlling the fuel market. According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBS), the directors of these concerns met regularly in palaces and exclusive resorts, where they held secret talks, planned joint undertakings and divided the market between themselves. Gangsters who work with the companies, act as security guards during the meetings. "We have proof that at least three such meetings took place in a palace near Plock in 1998," said a person involved in the investigation. Information from the Krakow and Szczecin prosecutors reveal that the Szczecin-based BGM company is at the top of the structure. "I am not the head of any mafia," said BGM founder Arkadiusz Grochulski. The CBS has estimated that the illegal arrangements have cost the state treasury losses in tax and other revenues of at least zl. 10 billion, which is a quarter of the budget deficit. The Finance Ministry has prepared a secret report on the issue, which reveals that hundreds of people and companies are involved in various types of fraudulent activity and illegal trade in fuel. There are over ten separate investigations being carried out across the country, but the problem is that they are not co-ordinated. However, the same names of people and companies keep coming up. The CBS has declared that soon they will arrest dozens of individuals connected with the fuel mafia. (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, A3) M.M.