Scourge of Krakow Celebrities Arrested

As long as there have been students, student life has always been associated with creative ways of earning money while studying. But one Cracovian student has been caught in a rather unconventional – though lucrative – scheme.

Today, Gazeta Wyborcza reported that police had arrested a fifth-year university student that police allege has been blackmailing local celebrities for the past seven years. The 25-year-old had been threatening to reveal compromising information to the press if they did not pay him.

All of the young man’s victims were well-known figures in Krakow – local politicians, businessmen, and even priests. He had begun when he was in high school and living in one of the villages close to the city.

The student got most of his information in an old-fashioned manner – the local rumour mill. For the most part, the knowledge he obtained was not strictly concerning illegal activities, but would be damaging to the figure’s reputation, such as news of an extramarital affair. Even if the subject had done nothing wrong, they often paid out of fear of having their reputations ruined.

According to Deputy Inspector Marek Korzonek, who spoke to Gazeta Wyborcza, the young man charged from 100 to 5,000 złoty and worked very discreetly, even picking up his “tribute” weeks later to avoid detection by the police. He was finally caught, however, when the police ambushed him at one of his pick-up locations.