After a secret investigation, a scandal at the Plaškiai firebreak: border guards took care of the boss’s business during work and he himself stole fuel.

The State Border Guard Service (SBGS) announced the abuse and arrest of the head of the Plaškiai firebreak in November 2019. Since then, no information about the investigation has been provided and eventually the story ended quietly in the Regional Court of Klaipėda by means of a criminal order.

Not only V. Didžiūnaitis, but also two subordinates who contributed to his affairs: Virginijus Ščervianinas and Vygantas Jurkutaitis, who worked as logistics, were found guilty of embezzlement, misuse of the service and falsification of documents.

V. Didžiūnaitis must pay a fine of 6,500 euros for the crimes committed, and the logistics who assisted him must pay 5,000 euros each.

It turned out after an undercover investigation

All the black works of V. Didžiūnaiitis came to light after a secret investigation by SBGS officials, which began after news of the abuse at the Plaškiai firewall reached the head of the Immunity Service. It is not at all strange that rumors spread quickly, because V. Didžiūnaitis did everything without hiding too much.

The border guards at the Plaškiai Firebreak monitor the Lithuanian border with Russia, which crosses the Nemunas River, so they constantly patrol there by boat. It was recorded in the documents that V. Didžiūnaitis was also sailing, but none of his subordinates had ever seen the boss do it. Also, fuel was constantly running out of the firewall.

“My colleagues and I were discussing where those fuels were disappearing,” said a border guard during the investigation, saying that he had long suspected the chief was stealing them.

After hearing about the possibly stolen fuel, immunity officers began to wonder where they were disappearing. Strange journeys of V. Didžiūnaiitis were immediately noticed, when he drove home for a very short time in a company car and immediately returned to work.

To find out what he was doing upon his return, agents set up secret cameras near his home. Then they saw that the boss they had brought home brought some fuel tanks, put them in his garage, and went back to work.

Thousands of gallons of fuel were stolen

After gathering the evidence, V. Didžiūnaitis was arrested. It was discovered that it had become a fairly simple scam with two logisticals: falsifying documents about the fuel used by the ships while they were sailing and, in fact, filling their cars with gasoline.

According to the file, in total they managed to seize more than 300 liters of gasoline, but they were willing to steal two thousand more before being captured.

During the first survey, guilt was shook and claimed that he knew nothing about the lost fuel. He said he only brought home 20 gallons of gasoline once.

“I took the fuel so I could cut the grass,” he exclaimed. By the way, a service lawn mower was also found in his house, which, according to border guards, was taken off work by the boss one day and never transported again.

The commander had to listen

Two days later, V. Didžiūnaitis was released, and investigators began talking to his subordinates. They said that the theft of fuel was not the only sin of the boss.

They revealed that during their work they were constantly in charge of the commander’s personal affairs: he would go home to repair the crane, clean the chimney and do other agricultural work. In addition, he constantly repaired his car, changed tires, and drove for services to find the parts he needed. They also drove to cut firewood, which was then transported to the patron’s patio.

“I did everything they told me, even though I knew I didn’t belong,” one of the subordinates told the investigators during the survey. – I was afraid because the comrades told me that if I don’t do what the commander tells me, I can write a declaration of resignation. I was very afraid of being thrown out. “

Similar officials spoke up, who, realizing things were not going well, argued that they simply had no other choice.

“There was no point listening to the commander’s instructions and arguing with him,” said another border guard.

Instead of border surveillance, the commander is transported

During the service, the border guards who had to monitor the Russian border through video cameras were also employed as personal drivers for V. Didžiūnaiitis. So for a while the wall was left unattended because the chief had to be transported.

“While I was on duty, the old man on duty called and told me that the commander would have to be taken home after the party. I drove in a company car, with the help of colleagues we approached the commander and took him away, – said the border guard who worked as a guard. – I realized that they were illegally removing me from my position, but I could not object. After all, the commander ordered. “

The witness also revealed that when he started work, the video cameras were monitoring the entire firewall area, but at the end of 2018, they were rotated so that the garages and fuel columns were no longer visible.

“Let’s focus on perimeter surveillance,” the chief explained, asking subordinates why the cameras were turned. It is true that once during the audit, V. Didžiūnaitis ordered the cameras to be put back in place, but when he was done, he again ordered to concentrate them on perimeter surveillance.

There was an excuse for everything

A few months after his arrest, V. Didžiūnaitis was pressured by investigators with the evidence gathered and finally confessed to all the illegal actions.

Still, he was convinced that he had done nothing wrong.

“I just took the fuel so I could mow the grass around the living room, because it’s official, not personal. I didn’t see anything wrong here,” V. Didžiūnaitis apologized about the fuel theft.

When asked why he was transporting employees to repair his house, V. Dižiūnaitis said that it was a service apartment. He repeated the same when explaining about firewood.

“I have taken that firewood, because I need to heat the house, which is a service department,” said the boss.

Despite these excuses, V. Didžiūnaitis admitted his guilt and agreed to be fined.