The prosecutor appealed the ruling of the Kaunas District Court to return the case to the prosecutor due to an improperly drafted indictment to the Lithuanian Court of Appeal.
“I am asking you to cancel the order and return the case for further trial. In my opinion, the ruling of the district court prevented the proper disclosure of the criminal act and the application of the criminal law,” the state prosecutor in V. Pitušlienė’s case, prosecutor Darius Valkavičius, told Elta.
In his opinion, it is possible to refine the accusation while examining the case in court.
ELTA reminds that the Kaunas District Court returned the case of V. Pituškienė due to possible abuse, fraud and falsification of documents and possession of forged documents to the prosecutor for correction of deficiencies even before the trial had started and the indictment had not been published.
The court believes that the indictment was drawn up improperly, the main argument for which the court considers it necessary to correct the indictment – was the violation of the regulation of the municipal council.
The request to return the case to the prosecutor’s office was submitted by the lawyer of V. Pituškienė during the previous hearing.
Lawyer Mindaugas Greičius stated that the prosecutor’s office attached great importance in this case to the Marijampolė Municipal Council’s activity regulation, which was not valid during the period mentioned in the case.
“The regulation itself appeared in the register of legal acts only in 2023, and the incriminated act is earlier. We believe in a fair trial and I am sure that we can get an acquittal,” the accused’s lawyer told Elta.
At that time, the prosecutor says that regardless of the presence or absence of the regulation, the money mentioned in the case could not be paid to the accused because it is not related to her activities as a member of the council.
ELTA reminds that in June, the Kaunas District Prosecutor’s Office submitted a criminal case to the court, in which V. Pituškienė, a member of the Marijampole Municipality Council, is accused of abuse, fraud, falsification of documents and possession of forged documents.
According to the data of the criminal case, V. Pituškienė, from 2019 April 23 until 2023 on April 24, while serving as a member of the Marijampolė municipal council, she possibly abused her official position for personal financial gain, fraudulently acquired other people’s property, deliberately and systematically falsified documents.
As announced by the prosecutor’s office, in the summaries of the council member’s expenses, the accused included untrue data about the expenses incurred, unrelated to the council member’s activities, which could not be reimbursed.
V. Pituškienė fraudulently obtained more than 2 thousand by submitting, as suspected, forged financial documents to the municipal accounting office. 300 euros from the funds of the Marijampolė municipality administration. During the investigation, law enforcement officials found that the allegedly incurred expenses were paid for using other people’s bank cards.
Prosecutor D. Valkavičius filed a lawsuit on his own behalf in this case, defending the property interests of Marijampolė municipality and asks V. Pituskienė to recover over 2.3 thousand. euros.
The prosecutor believes that V. Pituškienė caused damage of this magnitude to the municipality, but the municipality itself did not file a claim in the case. When the prosecutor appealed to the municipality, it sent a reply that it would not file a civil lawsuit in this case, because the council member did not cause her any material or non-material damage.
V. Pituškienė testified to the prosecutor, but in the interview on May 20, she did not want to answer the questions asked by the prosecutor. It is known that she compensated part of the damage to the municipality, but the extent of the damage was not known to law enforcement, so the prosecutor decided to file a lawsuit for the entire amount mentioned in the case.
Next week, Seimas member A. Vyšniauskas should also receive questions and suspicions from investigators regarding expenses for the activities of a council member.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the information allows us to reasonably believe that, while serving as a council member, A. Vyšniauskas may have submitted forged documents to the administration of Marijampolė municipality regarding the reimbursement of his activity expenses as a council member. According to the prosecutors, on the basis of the documents, more than 2.1 thousand were paid to the politician unjustifiably and illegally. euros.
According to the general prosecutor Nida Grunskienė, A. Vyšniauskas possibly forged 19 documents, which contain untrue data.
2024-09-01 05:43:29