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Photo by Judita Grigelytė (VŽ).
On Wednesday, the Vilnius City District Court did not allow the arrest of Valdas Sutkus, president of the Lithuanian Business Confederation (LVK).
Added a more detailed comment from the prosecutor
This was reported to journalists after the court hearing by Attorney General Darius Stankevičius, Attorney General.
“After the court examined the prosecutor’s request, he was not satisfied and released the suspect from detention,” he said.
“The request was made, I thought there were conditions and reasons for it, because there is a reasonable expectation of believing that the proceedings will be hampered, but the court did not see these reasons,” said the prosecutor.
The prosecutor did not disclose the exact charges against V. Sutkus, but stated that he was “suspected of three serious crimes and four minor criminal offenses.”
According to the prosecutor, the crimes involved bribery and influence trading.
A total of six people were arrested in this case. D. Stankevičius said that they were imprisoned more forgiving than arrested, but declined to name them.
Bribery allegations by M. Zalatorius, an attempt to belittle R. Masiulis
LVK President V. Sutkus, arrested in a possible corruption case, is suspected of having received a bribe from the president of the Lithuanian Association of Banks, Mantas Zalatorius, and from the heads of several construction companies.
He is also believed to have provided specific negative information in exchange for a reward to undermine the authority of then-Transport Minister Rock Masiulis, the Special Investigation Service (STT) said on Wednesday.
“As suspected, V. Sutkus, possibly for unlawful remuneration, deliberately organized, compiled, and publicly provided biased negative information, with the aim of undermining the authority, business, and political reputation of then-Minister of Transportation and Communications Rokas Masiulis” , reads the report.
“In this way, the objective was to remove R. Masiulis from the post of Minister of Transport and Communications,” says STT.
According to the service, V. Sutkus may have accepted and accepted a bribe from the President of the Lithuanian Association of Banks, M. Zalatorius, for his representation in late 2019 in the discussion of the Lithuanian budget law package for 2020, laws on bank property and corporate income taxes.
Furthermore, according to research data, V. Sutkus may have accepted bribes from managers of private road construction companies for his influence on political processes.
STT does not name these companies, but BNS has previously confirmed that Juozas Aleksa, CEO of Šiaulių plentas, and Aldas Rusevičius, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Kauno tiltų, have been arrested in this case.
It is also suspected that during the implementation of the EU-funded project of the Lithuanian Business Confederation, V. Sutkus chose a private consulting and training company as a project partner, the director of which, acting together with the director of a private technology company of the information, he personally paid part of the project funds. Sutkui
Yesterday, STT officials charged six people: in addition to V. Sutkus and M. Zalatorius, they were brought before the CEOs of two private road construction companies, the head of a private consulting and training company, and the head of a private information technology company.
The STT reported dozens of searches and other procedural steps. On Tuesday, Service officials also visited the headquarters of the Kauno tiltai company, as well as the company that manages the Maxima retail chain.
Law enforcement associates possible crimes with illegal lobbying activities and the impact on legislative processes, and clarifies the origin of the 400,000 euros owned by V. Sutkus.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the available data suggests that V. Sutkus, while performing his duties at the LVK and representing the interests of its members and other business entities, using his duties, public position, acquaintances, contacts or other influence, may have received a illegal monetary compensation for your work. impact of the adoption of various laws relevant to business.
Mr. Zalator is suspected of being involved in various episodes of the criminal scheme.
Mr. Zalator has been accused of trading influence and has been detained in custody, a promise not to leave or interact with the identified individuals.
The pre-trial investigation is supervised and directed by prosecutors from the Department of Organized Crime and Corruption Investigation of the Attorney General’s Office.
Reproduction of BNS news agency information in the media and on websites without the written consent of UAB “BNS” is prohibited.
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