Polish Confiscation of German Corporate Assets Triggers Legal Challenge

BRUSSELS, January 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --



The Berlin registered company K.u.K. - E.F.I International GmbH is taking legal steps to recover German owned properties that have been confiscated in Poland by the Wroclaw Prosecutor's Office without any court decision or legal warrant.

The properties include the assets of 4 non-resident commercial bank accounts registered in the name of the German company in Poland that were blocked in March 2013 and the deposits confiscated, without any grounds.

The list of confiscated assets also include three cars, registered in Berlin in Germany in the name of K.u.K. - E.F.I International GmbH, which were seized on 6th November in Poland by the Wroclaw Prosecutor's Office. A German employee driving one of the company owned cars was detained for 36 hours although he was not charged, and the vehicle he was driving was confiscated without any explanation.

International lawyers representing K.u.K. - E.F.I International GmbH are claiming a breach of the bilateral Memorandum of Understanding on the protection of bilateral investment between Germany and Poland and a breach of Article 231 of the Polish Criminal Code by the Wroclaw Prosecutor's Office.

On referral from the Polish Prosecutor General's Office, between 2011 and 2013 K.u.K. - E.F.I International GmbH was the subject of a full and comprehensive investigation by the Berlin State Prosecutor during which the company in Berlin fully co-operated with and assisted the German authorities with their research, providing all of the documents and the information requested.

Having examined these thoroughly after an investigation of 3 years, the Berlin Prosecutor's Office ruled on 28th October 2013 that there was no evidence to substantiate the claims from the Polish authorities against K.u.K. - E.F.I International GmbH, Zdiszlaw, Halina and Anna Kmetko and that the investigation was closed.

The seizures by the Wroclaw Prosecutor's Office of the property belonging to K.u.K. - E.F.I International GmbH have been made without reference to the German authorities, without any Polish or German court decisions or legal warrants, and the legality of these actions is now being challenged by the Company's international legal team in Berlin.

"21st Century Poland has shaken off its soviet past, but in some parts of the administration there remain some pockets of recidivism and behaviour more appropriate to homo sovieticus," a spokesman for the company said. "Poland is a key member of the European Union, and a supporter of European values and European law. Our company is an international European business that respects the highest standards of EU governance and we cannot tolerate this kind of treatment. We believe our assets have been taken away without due legal process or authority. We will defend our corporate rights and seek to recover them through the correct legal channels, in accordance with European law."

For more information see http://www.kmetkostory.org    

Issued for K.u.K. - E.F.I International GmbH by Macmillan PR Ltd.

SOURCE K.u.K. - E.F.I International GmbH