Nine people have been detained in Poland as part of an investigation into suspected subsidy fraud and attempted money laundering linked to nurseries in Gdynia and Gdańsk.
The inquiry centres on a company that applied in September 2024 to establish and run nine nurseries for children under three, each with 40 places, with the regional authority in Gdańsk, known as the Pomeranian Voivodeship, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) announced on Thursday.
In August 2025, the company requested about €66,500 for each nursery — around €599,000 in total — under the Active Toddler 2022–2029 programme, which is co-financed at 82.52% by the European Social Fund.
Most of the requested funds, €532,426, were paid out, but the remaining amount was suspended after suspected fraud was identified.
Searches and frozen assets
Investigators said the company used false or unreliable documents and statements to obtain funding and sign the contract.
Evidence gathered indicated the project did not have legitimate nursery premises, qualified nursery staff, or sufficient financial resources to create the childcare places described in the applications, the EPPO said.
Officers from Poland’s Central Anti-Corruption Bureau carried out more than a dozen searches at premises linked to the case in Gdańsk, Bydgoszcz and Lublin.
Assets worth €538,242 were frozen and the funds that had been paid out were returned to the Pomeranian Voivodeship, according to the EPPO.
All those concerned are presumed innocent until proven guilty in Polish courts, it added.
