Those who have been found to divert funds will be monetarily punished in the private sector.

The scandal has revolved around allegations that hundreds of millions of euros from the EU's 2021 Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) — intended to help member countries fight back against the COVID-19 crisis — wound up being used for high-end acquisitions, including yachts, saunas, and swimming pools.

The ministry said that "less than 10 percent" of the total sum had been paid thus far, with the remainder placed on hold until the audit is carried out.

Political and Financial Fallout
Such steps have come in for criticism with an opposition lawmaker accusing Minister Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz of 'läurering' the threshold to qualifying businesses. She also went on to defend the changes, arguing they would not allow the funds to be abused.

The Polish Agency for Enterprise Development said it started audits in the hospitality industry, and the results should be available in September.

Poland is entitled to receive almost €60 billion from the fund, but a large slice of that was held up early on by the European Commission over concerns about Warsaw's rule-of-law under reforms brought in by Poland's previous ruling party.

But as the EU-friendly administration moved in to clean up after last year's parliamentary elections and undo those changes, Brussels started releasing funds that it had kept on ice for a number of years.