Patients Fund head to name SLD members involved in blackmail scandal

The head of the Kujawsko-Pomorska Patients Fund Krzysztof Tadrzak is threatening to reveal on Wednesday the names of Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) politicians who blackmailed him in an effort to have SLD-backed people appointed as his deputies. SLD senator Ryszard Jarzembowski said his party wants to know the names of the people involved. If the accusations are true, these people will "suffer severe political penalties." Penalties could be as severe as expulsion from the party. Tadrzak said a few of SLD's politicians threatened him with dismissal. The heads of patient funds are appointed by supervisory boards. The Kujawsko-Pomorska supervisory board fund is controlled by SLD. This is another in a series of scandals in the region involving leftist politicians. Earlier, SLD appointed as head of the patient fund's board Henryk Kierzkowski, who had been dismissed from his previous job because of alcohol abuse. (Gazeta Wyborcza, page 4) T.J.