Robert Zieliński | TVN24

After Russian invasion into Ukraine, diplomats from the Russian Embassy in Warsaw tried to withdraw over 2 million euro (approx. 10 million zloty) in cash. According to information learned by tvn24.pl, the withdrawal attempts were blocked by banks in cooperation with the General Inspector of Financial Information (GIFI) – an institution responsible for preventing money laundering and combating financing of terrorism.

Our sources in the banking sector said that the attempts to withdraw over 2 million euro in cash had been made shortly after Russian invasion into Ukraine, that is after Feb. 24.

“This was embassy’s money. The attempts were thwarted,” a source in the finance ministry told us, asking to remain anonymous.

Blocked cash withdrawal attempt

We asked the Russian Embassy for a comment regarding this issue. The answer came after a few days. It was negative. “At this point we have no comments for the media in that regard,” we read.

Poland’s Ministry of Finance, which the General Inspector of Financial Information is a part of, is rather restrained in commenting on this matter.
“GIFI has been carrying out its tasks related to applying special restrictive measures, specified in chapter 10 of the act adopted on March 1, 2018, on counteracting money laundering and combating financing of terrorism,” the ministry told us.
The said chapter mentions exact procedures regarding issues such as blocking of money withdrawal.

Furthermore, the chapter also decribes in detail a legal procedure leading to unblocking of funds. However, based on the same set of provisions, the GIFI has the right to keep justification of its decision secret due to state security issues.

The United States and the European Union countries have imposed sanctions on Russian banks and the funds of the Central Bank of Russia. In early March, a decision was made to cut off most of Russian banks from the SWIFT system – which means collossal problems for Russian citizens and businesses to use services of banks across the globe.

Source: TVN24