Combating financial fraud in telecommunications
13 December 2019
What is financial fraud?
The term “financial fraud” is commonly used to describe a range of offenses, it covers a wide range of violations of the law. Any theft, embezzlement of public funds, forgery, bribery, deliberate misrepresentation, collusion, or concealment of material facts are illegal acts committed for personal gain or to cause loss to another party. The factor that distinguishes fraud from irregularities is the intentionality and purposefulness of the actions.
With regard to expenditure from the European Communities budget, fraud is defined as any intentional act or omission that is detrimental to the financial interests of the European Communities, involving the use of false, inaccurate, or incomplete documents, the concealment of information for the purpose of embezzlement, unlawful retention or misappropriation of funds for purposes other than those for which they were originally granted.
We are opposed to all forms of fraud or corruption, but we are aware of the potential risks to the proper performance of our tasks that may arise from various types of fraud, corruption, and conflicts of interest. Therefore, we implement an Anti-Corruption Policy and a Fraud Prevention System, the overall goal of which is to continually monitor and strengthen mechanisms to counteract all manifestations and risks of fraud and corruption in our operations. Within the scope of our tasks, we make every effort to prevent and detect fraud. At the same time, we adhere to legal, ethical, and moral standards, as well as the principles of reliability, objectivity, and integrity at the highest level.
Reporting suspected financial abuse
When reporting suspected or actual financial abuse, all information will be analyzed immediately, while maintaining the complete anonymity and confidentiality of the reporting party. Please report any suspected financial abuse, including corruption and conflicts of interest, to:
- by traditional mail to the following address:
Office of Electronic Communications
Ul. Giełdowa 7/9
01-211 Warsaw
- by email to: kontakt@uke.gov.pl
- via the e-Forms form (mfipr.gov.pl)
Reports of irregularities will enable appropriate remedial measures to be taken and will contribute to ensuring the highest standards in the implementation of projects financed from the EU budget.
In addition, anyone who obtains relevant information indicating the possibility of suspected financial fraud may notify the competent authorities:
- the police, the public prosecutor's office, or another authorized law enforcement agency (e.g., the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Internal Security Agency)
- the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection
In the event of suspected fraud that may constitute practices restricting competition, these must be reported to the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) pursuant to Article 86 of the Act on Competition and Consumer Protection.
- European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)
Any citizen may directly inform OLAF of suspected fraud or corruption affecting the financial interests of the European Union. Reports can be made in Polish, either by name or anonymously:
- online report: https://ec.europa.eu/anti-fraud/olaf-and-you_en
- report via the contact form on the website Contacts - European Commission (europa.eu)
- report to the mailing address:
European Commission,
European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)
Investigations & Operations
B-1049 Brussels, Belgium
Useful links:
- www.antykorupcja.gov.pl
- https://anti-fraud.ec.europa.eu/index_pl
- www.cba.gov.pl
- www.abw.gov.pl
- www.policja.pl
- guidelines on avoiding errors in public procurement in projects co-financed by the EFSI
Useful documents:
To learn more about combating fraud and corruption, we encourage you to read the following documents:
- EC guidelines for Member States and institutions implementing programs "Fraud risk assessment and effective and proportionate anti-fraud measures (attach document no. 1)
- OLAF guide for institution staff entitled “Detecting forged documents in the field of structural actions” (attach document no. 2)
- OLAF guide for institution employees entitled “Identifying conflicts of interest in public procurement procedures in the field of structural actions” (attach document no. 3)
- Conflicts of interest in Polish government administration – law, practice, attitudes of officials (attach document no. 4)
- Brochure of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection entitled “Tender collusion” (attach document No. 5)
- Guide entitled “How to report a crime” (attach document No. 6)
- Anti-corruption guidelines for officials (attach document no. 7)
- Anti-corruption guidelines for entrepreneurs (attach document no. 8)
- Guidelines on avoiding and managing conflicts of interest based on the Financial Regulation (attach document no. 9)
