Exceptional STT operation after undercover investigation: Prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Office, FNTT investigator, lawyer arrested

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, prosecutors Nerijus Marcinkevičius and Ugnius Vyčinas of the Criminal Prosecution Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office were arrested, practicing lawyer Šarūnas Mickevičius. He is a former deputy head of the FNTT Kaunas branch.

There are currently eleven suspects in the pre-trial investigation; others are those who sought favorable but illegal decisions in cases of financial mechanization.

Delphi According to sources, these arrests are also related to the famous dekio bankas financial machinations case: part of the investigation has already been carried out and must be turned over to the court, but other crimes are still being investigated. It is suspected that bribes may have been paid to law enforcement officials for making favorable decisions, but their amounts have not yet been disclosed.

“The pre-trial investigation began after receiving information that prosecutors, as well as an FNTT official, are meeting with an attorney, discussing cases in his possession, the course of the cases, discussing undisclosed data that may be useful for third parties, “said Attorney General Evaldas Pašilis. “It is suspected that such actions could have been carried out in particularly significant cases of loss of assets in Ūkio bankas, credit union cases and other cases of financial crime.”

Authorities say about 30 searches were conducted Wednesday morning not only at the suspects’ workplaces but also at their homes.

“This morning, a large-scale operation was conducted, about 50 STT officers participated,” said Žydrūnas Bartkus, Director of the Special Investigation Service (STT), that the non-public actions had been carried out for a long time. “There have been around 30 searches and, in terms of the scope of the case, at least 30 crimes are being investigated.”

According to officials, this pre-trial investigation began after receiving information that the prosecutors of the General and the Kaunas Regional Prosecutors and the FNTT official, acting independently of each other, were informally meeting with attorney Š. Mickiewicz and analyzes the course of the pre-trial investigations at his disposal, the undisclosed data, and the possibilities of making procedural decisions in which private individuals are unofficially represented by this attorney. It is suspected that in some cases material or other benefits were sought.

The undercover investigation revealed that such discussions and subsequent actions by officials may also have taken place in cases that received special public attention, such as the waste of assets in Ūkio bankas, credit unions, and other financial and economic cases. It is not ruled out that the current scope of the investigation and the number of suspects may increase.

By order of Attorney General E. Pašilis, the three prosecutors were removed from their posts and, due to their activities, official inspections and other internal procedures were initiated. Imposition of pre-trial detention on suspects will also be decided in the near future.

By order of the Attorney General, a comprehensive inspection of pre-trial investigations controlled by detained prosecutors will also be conducted to assess the validity and legality of their decisions.

The prosecutor’s office said that some other ongoing and completed pre-trial investigations targeting various financial and economic crimes will also be inspected for preventive purposes. Given the unprecedented situation, the heads of the prosecutor’s office also plan to rotate some of these pre-trial investigations among prosecutors under their control in the near future, to review and adjust the identified specializations.

“Without a doubt, when it comes to starting a pre-trial investigation into possible crimes committed by prosecutors who have been working for many years and made a career, it is very sad and disappointing,” said Attorney General E. Pašilis. – Unfortunately, the data received some time ago and carefully reviewed did not allow any other decision to be made. I would also like to emphasize that I sincerely believe that the absolute majority of those who work in the prosecution are united by a belief in justice and that the mission of prosecution formulated by law is not just a good word for us. And that is what determines the decision not to identify with those for whom values ​​are more important than values. “

The pre-trial investigation into alleged trafficking, bribery, abuse and bribery is conducted by the Organized Crime and Corruption Investigation Department of the Office of the Attorney General and the Special Investigation Service in cooperation with the Financial Crime Investigation Service.

The case of Ūkio bankas is also in sight

In January, the prosecutor’s office announced that it had already completed a pre-trial investigation into the waste of high-value Ūkio bankas assets, abuse of charges, legalization of criminally acquired assets, establishment and administration of legal entities used to hide criminal activities. .

In addition, the investigation was carried out into office abuse, the legalization of criminal assets, the establishment and management of companies that were used to cover up criminal activities.

Iokio bankas, administered by Vladimir Romanov, who received asylum in Russia, was declared insolvent in February 2013, and bankruptcy proceedings were filed against him in May of the same year. In November 2013, the Office of the Attorney General approved Ūkio bankas as a civil plaintiff in a pre-trial investigation into the actions of shareholders and managers directed at its decisions by wasting the bank’s assets.

In the Ūkio bankas case, accusations were made against 13 people, suspecting that they were operating in an organized group. Among them is the main shareholder of the bank V. Romanov, former members of the supervisory board and the bank’s board.

During the pre-trial investigation, it was established that the suspects, abusing their official position, made loans to the bankkio bankas companies they administered, and therefore more than LTL 40 million wasted. euros The proceeds of crime were laundered through the accounts of 80 natural and legal persons. For them, real estate was bought in the UK, and part of the money was used to increase the share capital of a company registered in Belarus.

2013 In May Romanov left for Russia and his international search was announced. 2015 he was detained in Moscow in April, but was soon released, and in August of the same year, Russia reported that Romanov had received asylum.

In June 2018, it was decided to try V. Romanov in Lithuania in absentia without his participation in court proceedings. The Vilnius City District Court recognized V. Romanov as a suspect who is not available to the Lithuanian police during the pre-trial investigation of his criminal acts.

In this case, the investigation was supervised by the Prosecutor of the Prosecutor General U. Vyčinas.