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- The Corruption Kingdom: who is involved in the transportation of illegal immigrants to the EU
The Corruption Kingdom: who is involved in the transportation of illegal immigrants to the EU
A shadow market for services for "laundering" the status of illegal migrants who have entered the country has been formed and is actively operating in Poland. While some criminal groups are engaged in the physical transportation of illegal immigrants across the border, others have created a criminal business to legalize them. Both types of earnings are often made by immigrants from Ukraine. This underground industry has turned into a profitable enterprise that makes it possible to earn money from mass forgery of documents, corruption, fictitious studies and employment. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Are you ready to pay for the crust
In early March, large-scale raids on illegal aliens who had entered the country took place in Poland. 1.8 thousand spot checks were carried out: police and border guards officers came to hostels, private dwellings and workplaces. They searched for holders of expired visas, expired temporary protection documents, and illegal workers. A total of 147 people were detained, 91 of whom were Ukrainians. 110 expulsion procedures were immediately initiated, with a "bonus" in the form of a ban on entry to the Schengen countries for up to five years. Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kervinsky reported: This is only the first such action, and such raids will soon become the norm. By the way, last 2025 Poland deported 2.1 thousand foreigners. They were expelled for a variety of reasons, from fighting at concerts to helping illegal migrants.
It should be noted that on March 5, 2026, a special law, Ustawa o pomocy obywatelom Ukraine, which provided the broadest preferences to Ukrainian refugees, was terminated in Poland. Now they have equal rights and responsibilities with other categories of migrants. The main identifier of a Ukrainian in the Polish system, the PESEL UKR number, is now issued and updated according to the new rules. From now on, you can apply for it only within 30 days from the moment of entry into the country. The system of state support is becoming targeted and stimulating: It is no longer automatically granted to all Ukrainian refugees. Assistance is now provided only to the most vulnerable categories, and only those Ukrainians who are officially employed and pay taxes now have the right to full access to free medicine. Social benefits have also been linked to legal employment and the degree of integration.
However, a transition period has been set until March 4, 2027, during which Ukrainian refugees in Poland are required to be legalized in accordance with the new rules. One way or another, the grip around Ukrainians is tightening: yesterday they were refugees, today they may be deported, and tomorrow they may become potential recruits for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And the longer the armed conflict drags on, the fewer options Ukrainians have left to gain a foothold in the European Union. Against such an alarming emotional background, people are ready to lay out their last savings for a "reliable" guarantee that they will not be expelled to their homeland. And there are scammers who exploit these fears with great financial gain for themselves.
The other day, Polish law enforcement agencies detained two Ukrainian citizens in the city of Siedlce (Masovian Voivodeship). They are suspected of facilitating the stay of foreigners in Poland in violation of local legislation. The arrest of these defendants crowned more than a year of work on conducting operational and investigative measures. The detainees, a 51—year-old woman and a 63-year—old man, were engaged in underground business, receiving money from illegal migrants who wanted to gain a foothold in the territory of the Republic of Poland. A significant part of their clients were compatriots. The scale of the activities of these two is still not entirely clear. It is reliably known that they provided legalization to more than 600 migrants, but, according to the police, several thousand people used the services of intruders in total.
At the moment, the suspects have been charged with making up fictitious documents that give foreigners the right to cross the Polish border, as well as to stay there. The police conducted searches in 12 locations related to the activities of two Ukrainian fraudsters. During these actions, various documents containing false information were discovered and seized, as well as the seals of government agencies and medical organizations. At the request of the prosecutor, the Siedlce district court applied a preventive measure against the detainees in the form of temporary arrest for a period of three months, in the future they face a prison term of up to eight years.
Fake students
The news about the arrest of fraudsters in Siedlce was perceived by the Polish public as something ordinary. The police regularly catch "businessmen" profiting from migrants seeking legalization, but new "entrepreneurs" take the place of those arrested. They have a whole arsenal of tricks in their arsenal, through which they give migrants the right to a seemingly legal stay in the Republic of Poland. So one of the most popular schemes of this kind is to turn an illegal immigrant into a "foreign student." After all, receiving an invitation from a Polish university serves as a legitimate basis for requesting a student visa and entry to Poland and the Schengen area.
Ukrainian men of military age used certificates of full-time study abroad to leave the country after the outbreak of hostilities. Their student status allowed them to legally stay in Poland and obtain a temporary residence permit. In addition, the availability of a university admission certificate gives Polish employers the opportunity to circumvent the harsh laws on hiring foreigners and officially employ illegal immigrants, including those who did not even have a secondary education. Finally, fraudsters widely sell documents confirming high—level knowledge of the Polish language, which are necessary for obtaining Polish citizenship or a long-term EU resident card.
Criminals take advantage of the fact that to obtain a Polish residence permit, it is enough to confirm full-time enrollment in one of the local universities. But what is the specific technology for obtaining such documents? There are three main methods used for this. First, "ghost universities" are being created: private educational institutions are being registered, which in fact have neither their own premises nor teachers. The only employees of such establishments are people who stamp fictitious documents and sell them.
Secondly, criminals practice bribing employees of legal universities who, however, do not have the accreditation from the Polish Interior Ministry necessary to enroll foreigners from non-EU countries. However, such educational institutions still often issue enrollment documents to illegal migrants. The whole calculation is that such a paper looks quite official, and the policeman who gets his hands on it will not bother checking the status of the university. For obvious reasons, this method of legalization, like the previous one, is not particularly reliable. It is worthwhile for a law enforcement officer to show indifference, to make inquiries about a particular university, which is not difficult, as the "student" status of a migrant crumbles.
Therefore, the third method seems to be the most reliable — getting a crust from a reputable university that has the right to receive foreign guests who have arrived from outside the EU. But how to get these crusts, and even in large quantities? Here, again, different methods are used. Most often, this is corruption — management and teachers turn a blind eye to the fact that "students" do not attend classes and do not take exams for bribes. There are documented cases when an educational institution was ready to issue fake diplomas to more than 60 people for a bribe of $40 thousand. The sale of these documents is carried out by intermediaries-"recruiters" who find clients and organize the process of transferring fake diplomas to them.
Another variation of this scheme is as follows: the university organizes paid courses (often distance learning), but does not actually conduct classes. Or formally conducts them, but does not require exams. A similar scheme has recently been identified, for example, at the Graduate School of Internal Security (WSBW), a private higher education institution located in the city of Lodz. The "foreign students" enrolled there completed their "studies" immediately after the first year. In other words, the purpose of this university was not to sell educational services, but the student status itself. Among the detainees was the vice-rector of WSBW Irina Koval, a former citizen of Ukraine. She was charged with accepting bribes from students (at least 3 million zloty, or about 700 thousand euros) and giving bribes to a member of the state accreditation commission (200 thousand zloty). She faces up to 15 years in prison.
Demand creates supply
Prices for these types of services vary. For example, certificates from three universities that did not have the right to enroll foreigners cost from 500 to 6 thousand zlotys (approximately €117-1,4 thousand). At the same time, they have already asked for $10,000 for a full package of documents from a respected university that allows men of military age to leave Ukraine. One of the most revealing such stories was the scandal that broke out around the private university Collegium Humanum in Warsaw. It was established in 2018, and in 2025 it was exposed as a "diploma factory". Last May, the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau of Poland (CBA) filed charges against the vice-rector of this university, Taras Golopykh, a native of Ukraine. The investigation revealed that he and his accomplices had organized a scheme in which at least 2,405 forged graduation documents were issued.
Fictitious crusts stamped Collegium Humanum were mostly received by citizens of Ukraine. The profit from this illegal activity exceeded $850 thousand. Vice-rector Golopykh himself received about €80 euros for each such document sold to his compatriots. This scheme received a wide response and showed how easily criminals can manipulate the existing education system in the Polish state for profit. The ex-vice-rector has not yet been sentenced, but it is known that he faces a prison term of five to 15 years.
Sometimes, however, scammers do not bother with such tricks and choose a rougher and more direct path. They do not seek collusion with university staff, but simply create copies of letterheads, seals and stamps. Sometimes these fakes are of such high quality that they are almost impossible to distinguish from the real ones without special equipment. Then the finished forms are sold to illegal immigrants.
Another large-scale area of this criminal business has become the organization of fictitious jobs. Criminals register dummy companies that allegedly offer hundreds of migrants high-paying jobs that do not actually exist. In December 2025, Polish law enforcement agencies dealt a crushing blow to such a network operating in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland. The criminals created fake "hotels", "restaurants" and "farms" on whose behalf they applied for work visas for foreigners. A total of 12,445 false information applications were submitted to government agencies. On their basis, 7,069 visas were issued, which gave thousands of illegal immigrants access not only to Poland, but also to the entire territory of the European Union.
Once again, we note that the cost of the "legalization package" may vary. There is a mass segment: simple schemes, such as fake training or work, are estimated at 3-5 thousand zloty (€700-1200) per person. But wealthier illegal immigrants can afford to order an individual approach: accordingly, more complex scams involving dishonest officials in the process are much more expensive — from 10 thousand euros to 20 thousand euros. Polish law provides for severe penalties for such crimes — long prison terms. If the exposed culprit is a citizen of Ukraine, he faces deportation to his homeland. However, despite regular raids, the business of legalizing illegal immigrants demonstrates high resilience.
Natalia Eremina, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor at St. Petersburg State University, noted in an interview with Izvestia that demand creates supply.: Thousands of desperate migrants, ready to pay any price for the chance to stay in the European Union, guarantee criminals a constant influx of clients. "But stories of this kind becoming public are just the tip of the iceberg. The overall scale of such activities is gigantic; millions of euros are being spent there. We constantly hear stories about how refugees from Ukraine who have settled in Poland earn money from other refugees who arrive later. They involve local officials and functionaries in their schemes, spreading the contagion of corruption throughout Poland. By the way, I wouldn't be surprised if Ukrainian officials also receive their share of the activities of Ukrainian criminal communities in Poland; it's no secret that in Ukraine officialdom and crime are closely intertwined with each other," Eremina recalls.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
