Inter-Commerce president arrested for land development-related bribery

The President of commercial surface fit-out company Inter Commerce, Rudolf S., has been arrested for allegedly giving a zl. 200,000 bribe to members of the city council of Lodz. According to Deputy District Prosectutor Elzbieta Tarka, the alleged bribery took place in 1998. After the hearing the suspect was released on a zl. 20,000 bail bond. In June 2001, police from the Central Investigation Office (CBS) apprehended Marek Czekalski, the mayor of Lodz in 1998, and Pawel Pawlak, a Lodz city council member during Czekalski's tenure. The Radom prosecutor's office accused them of accepting a zl. 450,000 bribe to help re-zone land and obtain a building permit to build an M1 shopping center. The money was supposedly handled by Czekalski's advisor through the Lodz-based company Integro. The prosecution suspects that the zl. 200,000 from Rudolf S. was also paid into the Integro account. According to the prosecution's documents, the bribe was supposedly handed over in exchange for help in the construction of a Carrefour hypermarket in Lodz as well as "the general good will of city authorities towards the firm." (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 6) A.Z.