On 7 May, Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek submitted a request to the European Parliament to waive the immunity of MEP Daniel Obajtek of the Law and Justice (PiS) party on the grounds of suspicion regarding the provision of false information in his tax returns. This request represents the third attempt to lift Obajtek’s immunity.
Prosecutor Przemysław Nowak, spokesperson for the National Prosecutor’s Office, explained that the investigation is supervised by the District Prosecutor’s Office in Kraków and was initiated by the Head of the Mazovian Customs and Tax Office in Warsaw in January 2026. The investigation is the result of a customs and tax audit into the accuracy of declared tax bases and the correctness of personal income tax calculations and payments for the year 2020, which began in June 2024.
The motion presented to the European Parliament specifically highlights allegations that Obajtek committed two tax offences by failing to report income from free benefits totalling PLN 3,030,879 (around €716.900) in both the amended PIT-36 declaration for 2020 and the DSF-1 declaration for the same year. In response to this motion, Obajtek—who held the position of CEO at Orlen from 2018 to 2024 and is currently an MEP—expressed on the X platform that he believes the scrutiny he faces is related to his past collaborations, including partnerships with Saudi entities, the Orlen-Lotus merger, and initiatives involving small nuclear reactors. He referred to the investigations as “pseudo-scandals.”
In 2020, Obajtek owned a property in the Choczewo commune that included a former manor house. He lent it free of charge to the “Kresy RP” Foundation for Polish Aid and Bonds under a 2018 agreement that required the Foundation to renovate it into a rehabilitation and training centre. Prosecutor Nowak noted that the renovations increased the property’s value by around PLN 3 million. Upon the property’s return, Obajtek received income equivalent to the renovation expenses. Still, he didn’t report this income on his amended 2020 PIT-36 tax return or in the related DSF-1 declaration for the solidarity levy.
Additionally, the spokesman indicated that in his 2020 declarations, Obajtek also failed to report income from non-cash co-financing of medical care costs provided by ORLEN SA, leading to an understatement of his PIT liability by over PLN 960,000 (approximately €227,000) and the solidarity levy by over PLN 120,000 (around €28.400). During a subsequent press conference, Prosecutor Nowak noted that Obajtek’s actions have been classified under Article 56 of the Fiscal Penal Code, which carries a penalty of up to 5 years in prison and/or a fine. Both penalties may be imposed by the court simultaneously.
In his statement on X, Obajtek stated that the Corporate Services Centre handled all financial matters. He mentioned that the Choczewo property had been leased by the Kresy RP Foundation for many years, asserting that he incurred no costs or financial benefits from it. Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek emphasised that everyone, including the former CEO now serving as an MEP, must be held accountable for their actions within an independent justice system.
This is the third request to waive Daniel Obajtek’s immunity. The first, in December 2024, involved PLN 400,000 (around € 94,600) in damages arising from two contracts for detective services. The second, in July 2025, related to false testimony and a magazine withdrawal. His immunity was waived on 28 April this year, which he deemed politically motivated.