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A Riga court on Monday sentenced Aivars Lembergs, the mayor of Ventspils since 1988, to five years in prison. The wealthy businessman was found guilty of bribery and money laundering, and arrested immediately after reading the sentence.
Mr. Lemberg was also fined € 20,000 and his property was confiscated. After the sentence, the process against the 67-year-old politician, who intends to appeal the sentence and qualify it as political repression, ended in 2007.
The politician has been accused of almost 40 acts, almost half of them found guilty. Mr. Lemberg denies all the allegations. His son and a business partner were also convicted.
A. Lembergs is considered one of the richest people in Latvia. He has repeatedly run for prime minister as a representative of the Union of Greens and Peasants. He is said to have undeclared shares in the country’s top companies.
At the end of 2019, the United States announced sanctions against A. Lemberg.
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