Guselnikov: I have evidence against Rimšēvičs

Take note – story published 6 years ago

Owner of Norvik Banka, Russian-born British citizen Grigory Guselnikov, has enough evidence to prove allegations against Latvia's central bank governor Ilmārs Rimšēvičs who is being investigated for bribery, Guselnikov told LTV on February 22. 

Meeting LTV in his London office, Guselnikov said one Renārs Kokins worked as an intermediary for Rimšēvics and asked Guselnikov repeatedly to 'cooperate'. 

It should be noted that Rimšēvičs is being probed for seeking a large bribe in a separate case that authorities say does not involve any bank currently active in Latvia. 

LTV: Why are you only talking about this now when you've taken the Latvian state to international arbitration in Washington? Why didn't you turn to the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau in 2015?  

Guselnikov: It started in late 2015. In 2016, for some time, I thought I'd wrench free from them.

The man who took me to Kokins is a former top manager at Latvijas Krājbanka, who was working for its shareholder Vladimir Antonov. When we really had problems with the Winergy wind power company, he said he knows someone who's Antonov's patron, and that this person can solve all my problems. 

Upon meeting Kokins, I was honestly surprised this person can't solve anything, and that's when Ilmārs Rimšēvics arrived. 

[..]

As to why we didn't turn to the authorities--we actually did, a long time ago. Last summer we turned to the authorities here, in London, according to my place of residence. We informed the European Central Bank last fall. 

- What did you tell them?

We reported that a high-ranking state official was seeking bribes.

We wrote a report to the Latvian police. It was accepted in December by the State Police. 

But now we started telling about it for one reason--when [Rimšēvičs] was detained for taking bribes, I lost it a little and spoke to the journalist. It's sort of a coincidence.

Otherwise, we'd have kept on working peacefully with Latvian authorities and foreign lawyers. 

- Rimšēvičs says it was you who wanted to meet him and asked him to solve the bank's problems. That you asked him to help you sell the bank. He denies everything you say.

There's a banking crisis in Latvia today. A big bank is frozen and can't make payments. There are billions in there. It has many clients. There are US accusations against the Latvian banking system. The head of the Bank of Latvia is suspected of corruption.

Currently it's unprofessional and careless to try to resolve who has met who, and when. It's important, but not urgent. It's a childish reaction at a time when trust in Latvia's banking system has to be restored quickly. 

- Do you have enough evidence about the bribery allegations?

I think I'm right, and I'll have enough evidence to prove it.

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