Ex-Trade and Industry Minister Niewiarowski in prison on bribery charges

Former Trade and Industry Minister Waclaw Niewiarowski has been arrested on charges of accepting a bribe from Silesian businessman Krzysztof Porowski, accused of corrupting state officials and swindling zl.5 million from the state's Social Insurance Company (ZUS). The former minister is accused of having made it possible for the businessman to merge his small private company with Pewex, the chain of communist-era hard currency shops. The ex-minister allegedly accepted a zl.20,000 gift for the favor and went on a few voyages to exotic countries at Porowski's expense. The State Protection Office (UOP) officials who arrested Niewiarowski on Tuesday said they did so at the request of the prosecutor's office. The ex-minister was the fifth person arrested in the case and many are uncertain where it will end. He could face up to ten years in prison. (Rzeczpospolita, pp.A1, A3) J.K.