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According to the representative of the court, Vaiva Milkeraitienė, the prosecutor requested that M. Žalimas be arrested for three months, but the court partially complied with this request: he ordered the arrest until March 18.
Earlier on Wednesday, the court fully complied with the prosecutor’s request and allowed the arrest of another month of Rolandas Mažrimas, another alleged member of this organized group.
According to V. Milkeraitienė, when considering the question of the arrest of the suspect, M. Žalimas’s defense lawyer indicated that there is no substantiated data on the crime he is accused of, he cooperates with the forces of order and answers all questions.
He also pointed out to the court that M. Žalimas has a young son, who also takes care of his permanent residence, so he should not hide and run.
In the ruling, the court indicated that there was data in the case that M. Žalimas had committed criminal acts of which he is suspected.
“It has been established that the suspect has previously committed several similar crimes, also in a foreign state, committed a new crime in an organized group of accomplices, possibly caused significant damage to the state, so there is a reasonable suspicion that the suspect will run, it will hide, it will interfere with the process. Objects and documents, “says the court ruling.
Judge Audronė Levinskienė, who reviewed the arrest request, told BNS that the two-week period was chosen as an intermediate option, that it did not violate the suspect’s rights or the public interest.
According to the judge, the hearing on the detention did not end until Wednesday after the seventh night, and on Thursday, at eight in the morning, the period of temporary detention of M. Žalimas had already expired.
“There is an intermediate option in which nobody’s interests are harmed. I cannot take a formal action alone and allocate three months, as requested by the prosecutor,” A. Levinskienė told BNS.
According to her, there are reasonable data to order the arrest of M. Žalimas, but her rights must also be guaranteed, so it would be wrong to adopt the strictest detention measure in such a short time.
“Here to preserve both the interests of the suspect and the public interest. A very unfavorable situation arose, but the issue had to be resolved quickly and expeditiously,” said the judge.
“On March 18 I will work in preventive detention and I will be the one who will extend this term,” he added.
Two more suspects, whose arrest should be resolved in the near future, are seeking a one- and two-month detention.
Police announced Wednesday a pre-trial investigation into large-scale VAT fraud and fraudulent accounting, in which five people were arrested, including energy businessman Rimandas Stonys.
R.Stonys is the only suspect whose arrest the prosecution is not seeking.
According to the Financial Crimes Investigation Service, in a few months, this organized group of accomplices could have avoided around 1.1 million people using the diesel and oil buy and sell scheme. VAT and excise duties.
The forces of order had previously considered M. Žalimas as the main organizer of criminal activities on thirteen occasions for various financial convictions.
According to the FNTT, the alleged organizer of the fraud scheme has been known since 1994 for similar crimes against law enforcement agencies. In the past, he has been repeatedly convicted of large-scale VAT fraud in the fuel, metal, wood and building materials trade, and has spent several years in prison as a result.
“The court, when pleading guilty, already declared in 2011 that the commission of similar crimes has become an integral part of the suspect’s way of life and source of livelihood. Currently, the FNTT is conducting three more preliminary investigations for crimes serious crimes against the public finance system involving this person, and several more cases are pending in the courts, ”the service previously said.
R.Stonys is the owner of Kaunas Cogeneration Power Plant (KHPP), previously controlled the Dujotekana company, was one of the largest gas importers of the Russian company Gazprom in Lithuania.
According to data from TOP magazine, the value of R. Stonis’ property in 2019 reached 70 million. euros.
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