CBA chief pledges full cooperation after three officers are charged in Pegasus spyware investigation

The Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) became the focus of a high-profile criminal investigation this week as prosecutors filed new charges related to the controversial Pegasus surveillance software. CBA chief Tomasz Strzelczyk responded on Sunday with a statement of cooperation, announcing the immediate dismissal of one active officer and stressing that nobody is above the law. The move drew a sharp rebuke from former CBA head Andrzej Stróżny, who questioned the release of sensitive operational information.

Charges detail abuse of surveillance powers

The National Prosecutor's Office (PK) announced on 12 June that supplementary charges had been presented to three individuals: Jarosław W., former director of the CBA's Warsaw delegation; Katarzyna S., former head of the operational-investigative division of that delegation; and Angela P., an expert in the same division. All three are accused of acting together to commit two offences, including exceeding their authority, certifying falsehoods and fraudulently obtaining false certifications.

The first charge concerns the illegal initiation and repeated extension of operational surveillance against a lawyer, carried out without factual or legal grounds. According to PK spokesman Przemysław Nowak, the suspects obtained data from the lawyer's phone (emails, SMS, MMS and messenger communications from iMessage and WhatsApp) without the required court consent, violating attorney-client confidentiality. The second charge relates to surveillance placed on a person connected to the public relations industry, allegedly based on materials unlawfully gathered during the earlier operation. The prosecutors say the suspects misled the first deputy prosecutor general and judges of the Warsaw Regional Court in their applications.

Strzelczyk pledges cooperation

In a statement published on X on Sunday morning, Strzelczyk declared that his priority was for the Bureau to operate with "absolute respect for the applicable law".

I am guided by the principle that nobody is above the law, regardless of position or function held.

He confirmed that, as a consequence of the charges, active officer Angela P. had been dismissed with immediate effect. "Any actions violating legal provisions or internal procedures will be met with an immediate and firm response," Strzelczyk added, stating he took "full responsibility for the personnel policy currently conducted at the Bureau." Government spokesman Jacek Dobrzyński had earlier noted that audits within the CBA were carried out at the order of minister-coordinator for the special services Tomasz Siemoniak, and that the Bureau itself had filed the initial notification in 2024 that helped supply evidence to the investigation.

Former CBA chief challenges current head

The conciliatory tone of Strzelczyk's statement was met with scepticism by his predecessor, Col. Andrzej Stróżny, who questioned the disclosure of operational methods to the parliamentary Pegasus committee.

You will tell the public and the prosecutor about all this in due time... on whose orders and in whose interest you handed over to the so-called Pegasus committee (and not only to it) information concerning the means, forms and methods of operational work of the special services.

The exchange underlined the political tensions surrounding the long-running Pegasus probe, which has already seen former CBA officers Jarosław W. and Katarzyna S. receive initial charges in June 2025. The suspects have denied the allegations and refused to give explanations, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

Timeline of the investigation

The probe, conducted by Investigative Team No. 3 of the National Prosecutor's Office since April 2024, has evolved in several stages.