Growth of fraud litigation, asset tracing and cross-border asset recovery in Poland

Fraud schemes in Poland have become more complex, moving from traditional phishing to advanced social engineering, including the use of AI-generated deepfakes and real-time behavioral profiling. These developments exploit vulnerabilities in financial institutions and require more robust legal and investigative responses.

Fraudsters are increasingly using artificial intelligence to create convincing deepfake videos, voice clones, and highly personalized phishing campaigns. These AI-powered tools make fraudulent communications and documents almost indistinguishable from genuine ones, significantly raising the bar for detection.
 

Deepfakes are being deployed to impersonate executives, manipulate financial transactions, and promote fraudulent investment schemes. In Poland, there have been notable cases where public figures’ voices and likenesses were used in scam advertisements, misleading the public and causing financial harm.

There has been a significant uptick in investment fraud cases, with criminals targeting both individuals and companies through schemes promising high returns. Corporate fraud, including misappropriation of assets by insiders, is also on the rise.

Poland has undertaken significant legislative reforms to align with EU anti-money laundering (AML) directives and asset recovery standards. This includes the creation and reinforcement of specialized Asset Recovery Offices (AROs) with access to real-time financial and asset registers, enhancing the ability to trace and recover assets both domestically and internationally.

The implementation of the EU Whistleblowing Directive has also increased internal and external reporting of fraud, further fueling investigations and litigation.

Financial crimes increasingly involve cross-border elements, such as international investment fraud, VAT fraud schemes, and money laundering operations that span multiple jurisdictions. Recent high-profile cases have involved coordinated efforts between Polish authorities and EU agencies to dismantle sophisticated criminal networks and recover assets across borders.

The rise in white-collar crime, including tax evasion, illegal financial services, and misappropriation of company assets, has led to more frequent and complex asset tracing and recovery actions.

A. Enhanced investigative tools 
 

Legal practitioners now utilize advanced methods for tracing assets, including analysis of financial documentation, ownership verification, and tracking of digital assets. The integration of blockchain analytics is becoming more common, though challenges remain in freezing digital wallets and admitting blockchain evidence in court.

B. Civil and criminal proceedings interplay 
 

Asset tracing often involves parallel criminal and civil proceedings, where criminal cases help secure evidence (including banking and telecommunications secrecy data), while civil cases allow victims to claim damages. Freezing injunctions are a key tool in securing assets during these processes.

Freezing injunctions (interim asset freezing orders) are widely used in Poland to prevent the dissipation of assets during litigation. They can be obtained in both civil and criminal contexts. In civil cases, a party may request a freezing injunction to secure its claim. The court will grant such an order if there is credible evidence that assets may be dissipated before a judgment is enforced. The applicant must provide supporting documentation and demonstrate a real risk of asset dissipation.

C. Non-performing loans (NPL) asset recovery 
 

In the broader Central and Eastern Europe region, including Poland, lenders face challenges managing NPL portfolios and seek external legal finance to unlock value from bad debt, reflecting a trend towards more sophisticated asset recovery strategies in financial sectors.

D. Cross-border collaboration 
 

Increased cross-border business activity and the globalization of fraud have necessitated more international cooperation. Poland’s legal system supports parallel civil and criminal proceedings, which is crucial for accessing evidence protected by banking and tax secrecy laws.