Lawyer Bartosz Lewandowski denies arranging Dubai asylum for fugitive Marcin Romanowski

Media investigation into Dubai residency plan

Investigative reports published on 28 August by Szymon Jadczak of Wirtualna Polska and Michał Fuja of TVN24 stated that Marcin Romanowski sought to obtain a residence visa in the United Arab Emirates. Romanowski, a former deputy justice minister and Law and Justice lawmaker facing Justice Fund corruption charges, reportedly attempted to establish a company in Dubai with the assistance of Przemysław Kral, the head of defunct cryptocurrency exchange Zondacrypto. The venture collapsed because local entities in the UAE refused to register a company for a politically exposed person wanted under an active European Arrest Warrant. According to the investigation, defense attorney Bartosz Lewandowski represented both individuals and helped coordinate their contact.

Defense attorney denies facilitating flight

Lewandowski convened an urgent press conference in Warsaw to reject the allegations, stating that he never sought assistance from Kral or participated in visa applications. He confirmed attending a March 2026 meeting between Romanowski and Kral in Budapest during the CPAC conference, but asserted that Kral participated strictly in his capacity as a practicing lawyer whose Katowice firm maintained offices in Milan and London. Lewandowski announced that he terminated all powers of attorney with Kral on the Monday preceding the reports due to a loss of trust, adding that he considers himself an injured party in the Zondacrypto affair.

I never sought and did not ask attorney Kral to help my client Marcin Romanowski, and providing advice in this regard to a person who was legally staying on the territory of an EU state possessing political asylum is not a crime.

Court upholds European Arrest Warrant

The controversy surfaced one day after the Warsaw Regional Court dismissed a motion from Romanowski's defense to cancel the European Arrest Warrant on 27 August. Judge Tomasz Grochowicz determined that there was no conclusive evidence demonstrating that Romanowski had left the European Union. Although the defense claimed the politician was residing in Russian-controlled Transnistria after submitting a safe conduct letter from Tiraspol, court records indicated the document was mailed from Bender two weeks after its writing date. The court also declined to hear testimony from Prime Minister Donald Tusk, concluding that the fugitive continues to exploit Schengen travel freedoms to disrupt criminal proceedings.

Ongoing Justice Fund investigations

Polish prosecutors accuse Romanowski of leading an organized criminal group and rigging grant allocations within the Justice Fund. Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek previously confirmed that investigators are examining whether Zondacrypto financed individuals assisting Romanowski during his evasion of law enforcement. Romanowski had initially remained in Hungary under the political protection of former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán following the reissue of his arrest warrant in February 2026. After Orbán's electoral defeat and the swearing-in of Prime Minister Péter Magyar in May, Romanowski fled Hungary, prompting further attempts by authorities to determine his current whereabouts.