Zbigniew Stonoga (; born 17 October 1974 in

Ozimek Ozimek (german: Malapane; szl, Uoźimek) is a town in Opole County, Opole Voivodeship, Poland, with 8,657 inhabitants (2019). History Ozimek dates back to an early modern period, early modern settlement. It was named both ''Ozimek'' and ''Ma ...

) is a Polish entrepreneur, businessman, activist and philanthropist who gained notoriety as a

whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

for the publication of the investigation files concerning the Polish bugging scandal (2014–2015), known as Waitergate. Founder of the short-lived Stonoga Party Poland (also known in English as The Centipede Party, since ''Stonoga'' translates as "centipede"). Founder of ''Gazeta Stonoga''.

Biography

Academic background

After graduating from an electrotechnical vocational school, he started higher education which he did not complete.

Political career

In 2015 he ran in Polish parliamentary elections in which his party, Stonoga Party Poland, scored 0.4% (40 000 voters). After the results were announced, furious Stonoga uploaded a video to the internet in which he expressed his frustration with those who did not vote for him or for the

Coalition for the Renewal of the Republic - Liberty and Hope The New Hope (, NN), previously known as Confederation for the Renewal of the Republic Liberty and Hope (, KORWiN/Liberty), is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist List of political parties in Poland, political party in Poland. It is curren ...

. His language is vulgar and direct, attracting the attention of young audiences. His recordings of private conversations between Polish politicians have led to a few resignations.

Lawsuits

In the 2000s Stonoga was named in a total of 89 criminal lawsuits. In 2004 he was sentenced to 3.5 years' imprisonment for financial irregularities. In 2005 his sentence was quashed. By 2015, he was named in 61 criminal cases related mostly to financial fraud and insulting public servants; he was sentenced to a year in prison for fraud on a private car sale. On May 9, 2017, Stonoga was imprisoned at the Warszawa-Bialoleka correctional center for one year on charges of committing a large-scale financial fraud; the sentence was later shortened by 3 weeks.

References

1974 births 21st-century Polish businesspeople Polish politicians Polish YouTubers Living people {{Poland-business-bio-stub