The case states that the accused man and his wife, knowing that a Latvian-registered joint stock company (JSC) was planning to be delisted from the Nasdaq Riga stock exchange and buy back shares from shareholders, decided to carry out 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 (LLC) registered in Latvia, which owned part of the shares of JSC, put up for sale on the Nasdaq Riga Stock Exchange more than 30,000 shares at a price more than three times the book value of the shares.
Immediately afterward, his wife, who is the sole shareholder of the above-mentioned LLC, purchased the shares of this JSC as an individual. The two defendants thus intended to increase the turnover of the shares of the JSC on the Nasdaq Riga stock exchange above 1% over the last 12 months of the capitalization of the JSC, so that they would receive an additional EUR 130,000 at the time of their repurchase.
The defendants failed to benefit materially from these actions as they were detected by the Bank of Latvia.
The offense is punishable by imprisonment from 15 days to four years, community service or a fine.
Both defendants plead not guilty to the offense.
Neither of the accused has any previous convictions.
