2024-04-27 03:16:39
The Riga Regional Court plans to start reviewing the case on appeal on December 4 at 11 a.m.
It has already been announced that the Riga District Court in Jūrmala last year found Rimševič and Martinson guilty of bribery crimes and sentenced them to real prison terms.
Rimševič was sentenced to prison for six years, as well as probation supervision for one year. Also, the court ordered the confiscation of Rimševič’s property, including confiscating several real estates in Garkalne district, an apartment in Jūrmala and a property in Ventspils district.
Construction contractor Martinsons was also found guilty, and the court sentenced him to five years in prison, and also decided to collect money from him in the amount of more than 150,000 euros. A coercive measure in the amount of 3.1 million euros was applied to the company “MM Investicias” owned by Martinson.
Also, the court made a side decision to ask the State Police to start criminal proceedings against the former board member of “Trasta komercbanka” Viktoras Ziemeli for giving false testimony in court.
Previously, Rimševičs and Martinsons stated that they did not admit their guilt and that their guilt was not proven during the trial of the case.
Rimševičas and Martinsons were detained by the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) in February 2018. The General Prosecutor’s Office charged Rimševič with bribery, and Martinson with supporting bribery.
Rimševičs is accused of accepting a bribe – a paid leisure trip – as well as accepting a bribe – money. He is also accused of money laundering. Rimševičs has repeatedly denied guilt in the crimes he is accused of.
The supervising prosecutor of the case, Viorika Jürgena, previously said that the KNAB started this case after the submission of two representatives of “Trasta komercbanka” (TKB). Both appear as bribe givers in the case, but are exempted from criminal liability because they voluntarily turned to the law enforcement authorities with information about this event. LETA knows that these persons are TKB’s former board member Viktors Ziemelis and former shareholder, the late Igors Buimisters.
Jurgena previously said that one of the shareholders approached Rimševičs in 2010 with a request to help in matters related to FCTK, offering Rimševičs a paid vacation trip to Kamchatka in exchange. On the other hand, in 2012, this shareholder, together with another one, repeatedly turned to Rimševičs, asking for help in other matters related to FCTK. As payment, Rimševičs requested 500,000 euros, which would be paid in two parts – one before and one after the FCTK decision.
The prosecutor previously emphasized that after the 2010 agreement, Rimševičs provided consultations to the shareholder of “Trasta komercbanka” several times, thus trying to influence the decisions of the FCTK. This type of consultation was also provided after the 2012 agreement, but although Rimševič managed to influence FCTK to make decisions that were apparently favorable to “Trasta komercbanka”, at the same time, decisions that were unfavorable were also made.
As one of the forms of assistance provided by Rimševičs, the prosecutor mentioned assistance in preparing answers to the questions asked by the FCMC in connection with the bank’s liquidity and non-resident issues.
Jürgena also explained that Rimšević failed to fully fulfill what was required of him, so only the first part, or 250,000 euros, was paid. It follows from the prosecutor’s explanation that Martinson played the role of an intermediary in this criminal offense – he received 10% of the total bribe amount. The prosecutor added that the bribe was paid in cash.
In the additional charges, both Rimševič and Martinson are also charged with money laundering of 250,000 euros.
The General Prosecutor’s Office believes that Rimševičs used the EUR 250,000 bribe to buy real estate on behalf of a company, of which the president of the Bank of Latvia secretly became a co-owner. Also, a process has been started against this company for the application of coercive influence, because the said money laundering was carried out in the interests of this legal entity. The accusation is related to a transaction in which the company “MM Investicias” officially owned by Martinson purchased a property in Jurmala, Baznīcas Street 2.
2024-04-27 03:16:39