Former VP of KGHM accused of illegal transactions

The public prosecutor's office in Wroclaw is examining illegal financial transactions allegedly carried out by a former member of the board of directors of copper conglomerate KGHM, Marek Sypek, former vice president of the concern and currently member of the board of Polkomtel (operator of the Plus GSM network). A British company co-operating with KGHM alerted the board about the suspicious transactions, which a KGHM statement issued on Sunday described as "...unauthorized deals on the foreign exchange market..." According to Sypek, the whole matter is a provocation resulting from his conflict with KGHM president Marian Krzeminski. According to the statement, the transactions had no impact on the financial status of the KGHM group. According to Gazeta Wyborcza's unofficial sources, the Polish Securities and Exchange Commission knew of the matter for two weeks, but concealed it until it was brought before the prosecutor. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 1; Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 11; Reuters) P.W.