Russian citizens living in Latvia must pass a mandatory language exam and there are suspicions that attempts have been made to illegally avoid it. As reported earlier, KNAB has detained several individuals for repeatedly identifying false medical diagnoses in exchange for benefits.
KNAB spokeswoman Agita Antonāne said: “The specific criminal proceedings have been launched on June 13 this year and this is related to the possible repeated falsifying of medical diagnoses so that patients can obtain an opinion on the exemption from the state language test because of their health status. This opinion was necessary for the submission to the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs in order to allow the persons concerned to obtain permanent residence permits."
KNAB did not disclose more information.
However, Latvian Television informally knows that a doctor, psychiatrist Marina Loseviča, has been arrested.
She also works as a lecturer at the University of Latvia and practices in both the private clinic “Dzintari” and the Riga Psychiatric and Narcology Centre (RPNC).
The RPNC didn't comment further but acknowledged there had been a big demand this year from people who wanted a statement about a diagnosis that exempts from language testing. But the hospital has been preparing in time to prevent the alleged lawlessness.
Chair of the RPNC Board, psychiatrist Sandra Pūce noted: “We are following, starting this year, when there were these statements on the issue of language permits, we are following very much this process. We also have internal monitoring. And review the quality and legal nature of documents and evaluations."
However, RPNC is only one of several places where the KNAB has conducted a search in connection with this criminal case.
