Scandal in the Lithuanian community in the United States: houses donated to the Lithuanian aid fund disappeared, the fund itself is closed by prosecutors | Deal

The American police clarified the scandalous events: the houses transferred to Lithuania in California were quietly taken over by the fund, and the offshore companies also participated in the scheme.

A. Markevičius, a well-known patron of Lithuania’s culture, language and history, head of the Order of the Star of Lithuanian Diplomacy, agreed to return 7 million LTL. US Dollars and US Lithuanians speak of a blow to the reputation of Lithuanian charities.

Since 1992 the current fund will be closed urgently

According to the decision of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the Lithuanian Relief Fund will be abolished within 30 days, and its boss A. Markevičius will be banned from participating in charitable activities for life.

Damage caused: $ 7 million will be transferred to the California Community Fund. The money from that fund is promised to be transferred to Lithuania for charitable purposes.

The Lithuanian Assistance Foundation announces the selection of support for Lithuania, and the funds raised support the Lithuanian communities and award scholarships to students. However, the foundation, established in 1992, is gloriously ending its existence this year.

For example, the foundation is commended for helping to rebuild the town of Želva: repair the church, support the gym, the community. The fact that Želva is supported by Lithuanians in the United States is true, but they have not heard anything about the Lithuanian Relief Fund.

I haven’t heard of the bottom.

“We are backed by Lithuanians in the United States, it is true, but I have not heard of this fund.” 15 minutes said Gintautas Povylius, president of the Želva community. It was also filmed in a promotional film for the foundation, but the president himself says he did not know about such a foundation, and filmed it because Lithuanians in the US requested it.

He suggested contacting the public institution Auxilium projektai that operates in Lithuania. They allegedly distribute the support of Lithuanian charities in the United States.

The head of the public institution, Šarūnas Sviderskis, admitted that he was distributing Lithuanian support in the United States, including to the village of Želva.

“However, I have not heard of the Lithuanian Relief Fund you mentioned. I do not know A. Markevičius either. The funds are transferred to us by completely different charities operating in the US,” he said.

The rural community of Želva cooperates with the Auxilium projects, but, according to Š.Sviderskis, has nothing to do with the Lithuanian Relief Fund.

Penalties: for all members of the fund

A. Markevičius, the founder and director of the Lithuanian Aid Foundation, is a well-known personality among Lithuanian Lithuanians, called a property magnate. For example, in 2015, the first Lithuanian Honorary Consulate was established in Los Angeles at the premises of their company Roque & Mark.

A. Markevičius, who fled Lithuania during the war, lived in Santa Monica, went into real estate business there, and established the Lithuanian Relief Fund, where his daughter Zina Markevičius worked, as well as his compatriot Arūnas Sodonis and Joseph Praske of origin. Lithuanian.

All of them were sanctioned by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra on July 2 of this year: the fund is closed and a lifetime ban on similar activities is in effect.

It is true that the prosecutor reached an agreement with the fund managers that the damage, $ 7 million, will be repaid.

15 minutes It has a copy of the agreement, where the Lithuanian firms are also located. So how was it for Lithuanians in the United States that the prosecutor even decided to abolish the fund?

He went to Lithuania by will

It all started when unidentified donors donated four California homes to the Foundation with a total value of $ 6 million. AMERICAN DOLLAR. This happened between 2005 and 2013. The house is said to have been handed over to the Lithuanians who died in the United States. These in their wills and left real estate in California.

These real estate properties had to be donated to the Lithuanian Lithuanian Charity Foundation, and the money, after selling it, had to go to charity projects in Lithuania. But that did not happen.

As reported by the California prosecutor, those homes were improperly sold below market value to relatives of fund managers and other related parties.

“An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General revealed that more than $ 6 million in houses donated to the Foundation for the benefit of the Lithuanian community had been improperly delivered to board members, their families and employees. They were sold at very low prices. below the real market value, ”said the prosecutor in a statement.

In addition, the fund managers did not disclose either the receipt of these homes as a charity or their sale.

As can be seen from the research material, the sale was made through the offshore companies RME LLC and Washington Shores LLC, founded by A. Markevičius.

Prosecutor: they cheated on supporters

“The people of California should trust that their generous sacrifices will be used for their intended purposes. However, the leaders of this fund have deliberately used their position to mislead sponsors and divert millions of dollars from the charity they led, ”said California Attorney X Bacerro in a statement.

This report, which is available here, was quoted by the US media and news portals.

The document claims 7.2 million. The dollars will be transferred to the California Community Fund, from which the money will go to poor children in the Vilnius region and to the town of Želva.

“Of course, that money would be very useful to the village, but I have not heard anything about it,” said community president G. Povylius. Another $ 400,000 will go to the prosecutor’s office account.

Foundation Board Member: We are very disappointed.

15 minutes Ask the Foundation questions. They were answered by Arūnas Sodonis, a member of the Board of the Lithuanian Relief Fund, who also received sanctions from the prosecutor.

– How would you comment on the California prosecutor’s decision to close the fund and ban fund managers from holding positions in such organizations?

– This investigation lasted eight years and it was clear that the actions of the State would interfere with our objective of helping the Lithuanians. We reached a general agreement because both parties wanted to resolve the interruption.

Nearly $ 7 million will be transferred to the California Community Fund, which will distribute the funds, so we decided the time was right to end the Lithuanian Relief Fund.

Furthermore, President Albinas Markevičius is 90 years old. He and other directors have other life and charity plans, prioritizing additional efforts to help Lithuania.

– The prosecutor states in his report that the four houses transferred to the fund were transferred to people related to the fund and sold for less than the market price. How can you explain that?

– This is inaccurate information published in a California state press release. All of the Fund’s transactions were fair and based on fair market value.

It should be added that the Fund was inspected by the United States Tax Inspectorate, which confirmed that the Fund’s tax returns were correct and appropriate. So we are very disappointed that the California state agency has released such misleading statements in its press release and we are trying to investigate why this happened.

– What projects does the fund support in Lithuania?

– Our previous projects and those that will benefit from this agreement are described in our previous press release. It includes student scholarships, housing support for surviving Siberian deportees, reconstruction of the village of Želva, treatment of disabled Lithuanians and many other projects.

– It is said that the administrators of the fund will have to transfer 7 million dollars by decision of the prosecutor: to whom will the money be specifically assigned?

– As noted in the press release, for the education of disadvantaged Lithuanian children and orphans in the Vilnius district, as well as for charity activities in the village of Želva, including “business school, teacher training or seminary, assistance Financial for Students with Above-Average Disabilities and Retirees. “

We are especially pleased that these funds are finally being distributed at a time when the world and most charities are in financial trouble due to the Covid pandemic. We hope that these funds help create a positive impact in this difficult year.

– Do you think the reputation of charities related to Lithuania will not suffer after this event?

– No, we hope that the public or at least anyone considering the help of the Lithuanian organization understands the positive results. The fact is, almost $ 7 million will go to Lithuanian charities, so we see this deal as a positive.

There have been financial machinations with Lithuanians before

Laurynas Misevičius, a compatriot living in California and a member of the Board of the Lithuanian World Community, said he regretted that such a story had happened.

“It is very sad if our impeccable reputation and our official position were really taken advantage of and deceived by our compatriots who wanted to allocate their long-term accumulated wealth to Lithuania, but I think we should follow the principles of the presumption of innocence that is strongly applied in States United, “said Misevičius.

He noted that so far the California prosecutor’s office has only closed the fund for violating the state’s charitable laws, prohibited A. Markevičius from participating in such activities, but no other charges or imprisonment are provided.

“Maybe it was just negligent accounting, maybe Albinas Markevičius’s advisers didn’t do their job to the fullest, didn’t know something, or didn’t complete the reports?” – Considered the American Lithuanian.

According to him, there were a series of financial machinations related to financial institutions founded by American Lithuanians.

“It would be a mistake to say that all of this does no harm to other Lithuanian organizations. It takes an infinitely long time to gain a good reputation, and it can be lost in an instant. I hope this does not happen to the remaining charities without Lithuanian for-profit companies abroad, which have been supporting projects from Lithuania and Lithuania abroad for seven decades, ”he said.

Some Lithuanians living in Santa Monica, who did not want to be named, said the foundation could take over the houses of dying compatriots, promising that after death the money would go to Lithuanian charities after selling them, but this did not it happened.

He admitted that the fund was forced to close

On Monday, the Lithuanian Relief Fund released a statement stating that almost $ 7 million would be distributed to needy Lithuanians through the California Community Fund, based on a joint agreement that “completed a grueling eight-year investigation between the Lithuanian Relief Fund and the California government inspectors. ” .

“The Foundation Board, which, in addition to Albinas Markevičius and Zina Markevičius, also includes Arūnas Sodonis and Joseph Praske, unanimously supports the distribution of these funds to Lithuanians in need,” the report said.

California prosecutors have been investigating the Fund’s transactions with donated Lithuanian real estate since 2013.