In the case, it was established that the accused man and his wife, knowing that it was planned to delist a joint-stock company (JSC) registered in Latvia from the “Nasdaq Riga” stock exchange and buy back shares from the shareholders, decided to make simulative transactions in order to increase the turnover of JSC shares on the stock exchange.
The accused man, as a member of the board of a limited liability company (SIA) registered in Latvia, which owned part of JSC shares, put up more than 30,000 JSC shares for sale on the “Nasdaq Riga” exchange at a price that exceeded more than three times the balance sheet value of JSC shares.
Immediately after that, his wife, who is the sole member of the above-mentioned SIA, bought the shares of this JSC as a private individual. Thus, the two defendants had planned to increase the turnover of JSC shares on the “Nasdaq Riga” exchange above 1% during the last 12 months of JSC’s capitalization, so that they would receive an additional 130,000 euros at the time of their redemption.
The defendants did not manage to benefit materially from these activities, because the Bank of Latvia found them and did not take them into account when approving the prospectus for the repurchase of JSC shares.
Committing such a crime is punishable by imprisonment from 15 days to four years, community service or a fine.
Both defendants have pleaded not guilty to the crime.
None of the accused have been punished before.
In March 2016, the Criminal Law was supplemented with a new article on illegal use of insider information and manipulation in financial markets. This is the second criminal case in the history of Latvia, which has been started under the mentioned article of the Criminal Law, and the first criminal case in the history of Latvia, in which a person has been charged under this article of the Criminal Law.
The Prosecutor’s Office points out that no person is considered guilty until he or she is found guilty of committing a criminal offense in accordance with the procedure specified in the Criminal Procedure Law.
2024-09-16 10:18:50