In 2020, media were flooded with reports of a group of Polish shamans being busted in Heřmanice, Czech Republic. A police raid, the arrest of Jarosław and Karolina Kordys, and subsequent harsh sentences – 8.5 and 5.5 years in prison for running an illegal business of organizing so-called ceremonies where an exotic psychedelic – ayahuasca – was served to clients.
Ayahuasca is a traditional Amazonian plant brew with powerful hallucinogenic effects. Due to its high content of DMT – a psychedelic substance that induces intense visions and altered states of consciousness – its possession and administration are prohibited in Poland and the Czech Republic. The finale of the Kordys' media spectacle was their pardon by the Czech president after two years of imprisonment. 🌐
The curtain fell, the topic went quiet. But is this really the end of the story? In the shadow of this high-profile trial, a second one was taking place – quiet and lightning-fast, ending in a discreet verdict that not a single word was mentioned in the media. An analysis of court documents leads to astonishing conclusions.
In the border town of Janov, a second, twin ayahuasca center operated, the co-owner of which turned out to be a billionaire – Michał Kiciński.
Witness B.
In the extensive and publicly available justification for the verdict of Jarosław Kordys, the figure of witness Bartosz B. appears. According to the files: 📄
The files also reveal the scale of the charges against Bartosz B.:
An intriguing fragment concerns the ownership of the base. The documents state:
Witness [Bartosz B.] confirmed that in Janov he is the owner of one-tenth of the property.
In the Czech Republic, land registers are public and for a small fee, one can download its historical extract. The downloaded document leaves no doubt: in the years 2012–2023, the co-owners of the ayahuasca property were:👁️:
Bartosz Badowski (10%) and Michał Dawid Kiciński (90%)
The second name – Dawid – perfectly fills the gap in the anonymized abbreviation Michał D. K.
The partner of the shaman was the creator of The Witcher – one of the richest Poles.
Under Surveillance
A breakthrough in the case of the organizers of ayahuasca ceremonies in 2020 came thanks to police operational techniques. Kordys' phone was under constant surveillance, and officers listened live when on August 24, 2020, a nervous exchange took place between Badowski and Kordys.
Kordys called Badowski clearly alarmed by the news that had reached him. He feared that the tragedy being whispered about behind the scenes could destroy their empire. The court, in the justification for the verdict, precisely reconstructs this moment:
The conversation also touches upon a threat from a third party – the men discuss a blackmailer who wants to go to the police. Kordys directly asks his partner:
For the court, this was key evidence that the defendants were running an illegal business, not a spiritual activity – the death of a person was merely bad for business to them.
The cynicism of this conversation reaches its peak moments later. As soon as they established a strategy to silence the rumors, they immediately moved on to the logistics of drug deliveries. The court notes that immediately after the speculations about death and blackmail, the interlocutors return to business:
For the police officers who heard this in real time, the message was clear: a tragedy could have occurred in the facility, and the perpetrators were only worried about the continuity of supplies.
Just two days after this phone call, on August 26, 2020, Czech police officers entered the Janov estate. The results of the search were described in the Kordys verdict:
During the police intervention, 15 Polish citizens were identified there as having taken part in the ceremony. Among them were regulars and close friends of Badowski – Krzysztof Stefanek and Magdalena Drzewińska, whose presence at the moment of the arrival of services is significant in the context of their later role in this story.
The Price of Freedom
When on August 26, 2020, Czech police entered the property in Janov, belonging to Bartosz Badowski and billionaire Michał Kiciński, Jarosław Kordys in Hermanovice still felt safe. He did not yet know that the clock had started ticking towards his own catastrophe. Just 7 weeks after the quiet raid on Badowski, the police knocked on the Kordys'.
On October 15, 2020, the idyll at their center was interrupted by the sound of stun grenades. The Czech anti-terrorist unit did not play around: masked officers with long weapons stormed the building, throwing the future heroes of a high-profile scandal to the ground.
What happened within these less than two months? The answer lies in one Czech legal term:
Bartosz „Badi” Badowski, partner of one of the richest Poles, quickly understood his situation. In the face of the secured evidence – including 2 kilograms of substances with DMT and marijuana – he chose a strategy that was to protect him from many years in prison. He decided to buy his freedom.
The agreement allowed his file to be closed without calling witnesses, which in practice meant that the mechanisms of the Janov center's operation never echoed in public debate, protecting Badowski from a crossfire of questions and testimonies that could also sink his silent partner.
The price of Badowski's freedom turned out to be high for his industry colleague. Badi's testimony was invaluable evidence for the prosecution, allowing the chain of circumstantial evidence in the Kordys case to be closed.
By virtue of a verdict dated November 2, 2021, Bartosz Badowski was found guilty of the crime of unauthorized production and other handling of narcotic substances. 📄
he made available to the participants for use an unspecified amount of psychotropic substances, namely so-called ayahuasca containing dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and so-called marijuana containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
he stored a total of 1902.79 grams of plant material (...), which contained a total of 37.24 grams of the active substance dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and 92.29 grams of the so-called drug marijuana.
While Jarosław Kordys was sentenced to 8.5 years of imprisonment, Bartosz Badowski, whose case concerned the same practice, the same substances, region and duration of activity, ended the case with a suspended sentence thanks to the agreement and cooperation with the justice system.
The Silence After the Storm
Although Badowski ceased his shamanic activities, the property in Janov did not become empty – the previously mentioned Krzysztof Stefanek and Magdalena Drzewińska moved in with him. Their presence at Badi's side at that time casts a shadow on their later role; they were not, after all, innocent observers, but people who, despite being present during the police intervention themselves, remained loyal to the former shaman.
Being so close to Badowski, they perfectly knew the dark secret of Ilona's death. Their decision to move in with a man who, in the face of tragedy, was worried about the continuity of supplies, proves that they fully accepted the rules of the conspiracy of silence.
Kiciński
In the shadow of these verdicts, the role of the silent partner remains unexplained. Michał Kiciński is not a character who has only heard about ayahuasca – he became its unofficial ambassador in the Polish mainstream media. In numerous interviews (including for Focus, Newsweek), he describes the mechanisms of psychedelics' action with extraordinary precision. Kiciński publicly talks about the lessons of humility that medicine gave him, about meetings with shamans and about how the jungle brew opens a new reality.
„After ayahuasca, there is a chance not to lie to yourself.”
Mistake with Badi
Michał Kiciński's confrontation with law enforcement agencies took formal shape in the fall of 2023. On September 21, 2023, the billionaire personally received a summons to appear for questioning as a witness. It was to take place on October 18, 2023. The summons clearly stated that the interrogation would concern Janov.
The billionaire's reaction to the interest of law enforcement agencies was instantaneous. He turned directly to the author of the notification – sending him an e-mail message with a proposal for a kind of penance. Instead of prosecutorial explanations, he offered a transfer for a charitable purpose, calling the years of illegal practice youthful naivety.
The interrogation took place a week before the date indicated on the summons – October 11, 2023 at 3:00 PM at the District Police Headquarters Warsaw II. In the protocol, Kiciński adopts a line based on a lack of awareness as to the nature of the activities conducted on his property.
When a key question was asked during the proceedings about his own participation in ayahuasca ceremonies in Janov, the answer was laconic:
In the context of the testimonies given, it is worth noting that the billionaire is the owner of the luxury Munay Sonqo center in Peru, which he has mentioned many times in interviews.
Unlike in Europe, Peruvian law allows for commercial ayahuasca ceremonies. Kiciński's center still offers fully open and professional sales of services with a profile twin to those that are prohibited in the Czech Republic, which is still displayed on the website. 🌐
The fact that Kiciński, at the time of the interrogation, was managing a legal ayahuasca business in South America, calls into question his declared ignorance as to the profile of activities in Janov.
This is how Bartosz Badowski himself describes the cooperation:
Anonymous Philanthropist
In November 2025, a video recorded a year earlier appears on the YouTube channel Osada Natury Zew, in which the current host, Krzysztof Stefanek, spins a tale about the creation of the Settlement. In a rural setting, with a smile on his face, he builds a narrative about a wonderful coincidence and a mysterious benefactor.
Stefanek mentions how, together with a group of friends, he helped to sort out ownership issues so that the object would be in one pair of hands. Stefanek dates the key moment of this story with extraordinary precision:
Stefanek presents this as a result of the donor's research, who was allegedly charmed by the vision of non-profit activity.
However, the calendar of legal events destroys this romantic myth, revealing a nervous haste in getting rid of a hot potato:
- 📅September 21, 2023
Michał Kiciński receives a summons for questioning regarding Janov. - 📅October 3, 2023
A week before the visit to the police station, he buys out the 10% share in the property from Bartosz Badowski for 160,000 PLN. To get rid of the entire center with one signature, he must first become its sole owner.👁️ - 📅October 11, 2023
The billionaire stands before the police. For the record, he refuses to testify about his past in this place. - ⚠️October 23, 2023
Just 12 days after the troublesome interrogation, when the ownership formalities with Badi are already completed, a phone call is made to Stefanek with an offer to give away property worth millions for free. - 📅December 21, 2023
The finale of the operation. Kiciński formally transfers Janov in the form of a donation. The property goes to a non-profit association – a facade shell organization, run by people who were part of this practice for years. The billionaire gets rid of the evidence, and the new owners gain a base for further activity under a new name.
The cynicism of this situation is deepened by the fact that the recipients were not accidental ecology enthusiasts. Krzysztof Stefanek, who talks in the film about reversed logic and the beauty of volunteering, and his partner Magdalena Drzewińska in reality perfectly knew the dark history of Janov and the secret of Ilona's death. By accepting the donation, they were taking over not only the land, but also the silence.
Ultimately, the strategy proved successful. The investigation was discontinued before it began, and the property, which could be subject to forfeiture as an instrument of crime, was safely parked in the association. Kiciński remained an anonymous philanthropist, and Stefanek – the guardian of a new, clean settlement.
People who consciously profited from the tragedy were those for whom covering up the truth became the foundation of their new, lucrative reality. Under the banner of a Non-profit organization, members of the Stowarzyszenie Natury Zew live from organizing holiday stays with a price list of donations instead of receipts, lying to their guests and publicly to everyone who comes across their idyllic videos. And after all, the compensation to the universe was supposed to go to a hospice, and not to a shell organization.
Nýdek
If the case concerned only one billionaire, one could speak of a coincidence or an unlucky choice of tenants. However, slightly further from Janov, in the town of Nýdek, another twin center operated. 📸
Witness accounts indicate that regular ceremonies of a nature similar to those at Kordys' and Badowski's took place at the property in Nýdek, conducted by Piotr Bonawentura Tracz. Although the center's website no longer exists, the Wayback Machine internet archive has preserved snapshots of the tribunydek.com website. Descriptions of the workshops clearly indicate that the property was used for work with psychedelics. 🔍
Now that we know what this house was, the key question becomes: who did it belong to?
An analysis of the Czech land registers brings a sensational discovery. The owner of this next shamanic temple – exactly at the time when the website invited for ceremonies – was the second of the duo of billionaires behind the gaming giant, Marcin Iwiński. Official documents relentlessly link his name with the infrastructure in which the illegal practice took place.
This means that not just one, but both of the legendary founders of CD Projekt, possessed properties on the Czech border in which the same illegal substances were offered for a fee.
Even more puzzling is what happened to this property at the time of threat. When Kordys was arrested on October 15, 2020, the specter of police raids hung over the community. Official documents reveal a disturbing coincidence of dates:
- 📅January 25, 2016Marcin Iwiński purchases the property in Nýdek for the amount of 5,000,000.00 CZK.👁️This property is used for organizing illegal ceremonies with the use of psychedelics administered to participants by Piotr Tracz.
- 📅October 15, 2020
Police assault on the Kordys' center. Panic erupts in the community. - 📅June 15, 2021
Marcin Iwiński „sells” the properties in Nýdek.
The buyer of the luxury property was not another investor, but Piotr Tracz – the same man who previously played the role of a shaman there.
This transaction raises doubts: how did a niche shaman finance the purchase of a luxury villa from one of the richest Poles? The new owner almost immediately changed the formal profile of activity to legal bodywork workshops. The coincidence of this sequence of events with Kiciński's donation in Janov allows us to see a repetitive pattern of owners withdrawing from infrastructure linked to illegal practices.
WIKTOR B.
On March 9, 2026, Onet reveals to the public shocking behind-the-scenes of the activity of the center in Janov, Czech Republic. The journalistic investigation focuses on the death of a 54-year-old participant, Ilona L.-H. 🌐
According to Onet's findings, a tragedy occurred at the farm in Janov in June 2018. During a night ceremony using ayahuasca, the woman felt terrible, struggling with severe pain and intense vomiting. Despite her critical condition, the organizer did not call for medical help. Telephones had been taken from the participants beforehand, which prevented them from alerting the rescue services themselves.
The one leading the rite, Wiktor B., brother of Bartosz Badowski, was under the influence of marijuana that night. From witness accounts, it appears that after the woman's death, he took immediate action aimed at covering up the incident. He ordered the participants to leave the center immediately. He presented a false version of events to the Czech police, claiming that Ilona L.-H. was only a guest and was found dead in the bathroom in the morning. The services initially did not become suspicious, accepting this account as credible.
Some time after the tragic night, Wiktor B. convened a meeting for the traumatized participants of the fatal ceremony, in the conduct of which his friend Joanna N. helped him. They were then persuaded that for the common good, the events of that night should remain a secret.
For the following years, the false narrative was successfully maintained. Even the closest family of Ilona was convinced for a long time of death from natural causes.
The situation changed only on May 6, 2024, when the District Prosecutor's Office in Częstochowa initiated an official investigation into the center's activities and the circumstances of Ilona L.-H.'s death. Just 2 months later, Wiktor B. dies under mysterious circumstances.
The man's body was found in the warehouse of the company where he worked as an assembler of server racks. No visible injuries indicating the use of physical force were found on his body. Although more than a year and a half has passed since Wiktor B.'s death, investigators are still waiting for the results of toxicological tests, which are of key importance for explaining whether there were substances in the man's body that could have contributed to his sudden departure. For this reason, the investigation into his mysterious death currently remains suspended.🔍