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WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Eighteen people including current and former state officials were detained in Poland on Tuesday on suspicion of large-scale corruption, investigators said.
The detentions are a blow to the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which is seeking to improve its image halfway through its second term. A government reshuffle is expected Wednesday.
Jacek Dobrzynski, a spokesman for the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau, said that offices and private apartments were searched at 48 locations across Poland.
Among those detained were the deputy head of the state-run Main Statistical Office, a Foreign Ministry official in charge of IT systems purchases and heads of sales departments at IT companies.
Prosecutors said the case involves corruption in the purchase of some 1.5 billion zlotys' (360 million euros; $486 million) worth of IT systems for the Interior Ministry, police and other offices. They said 17 other people had already been charged in the investigation that could lead to more detentions in the future.
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