The police have arrested a criminal who had planned to kidnap a bailiff, extort an amount of €350,000 from him and then kill him, the State Police told the press February 19.
Law enforcement officers have averted a kidnapping of a state official, LETA was told at the State Police February 18.
The Rīga City Vidzeme District Court on February 15 received information that the €200,000 bail it had set for the release of Leons Bemhens, the former head of Rīgas Satiksme municipal transport company who has been arrested in connection with an ongoing probe into alleged corruption in the company, has been posted, according to LETA’s sources.
Latvia's dedicated anti-graft force, the Corruption Combating and Prevention Agency (KNAB) is currently working despite a serious lack of manpower, the agency's head, Jēkabs Straume, told Latvian Radio February 14.
Police have taken action in Latvia as well as the United States, Finland and Lithuania to bust an international luxury car scam, according to the Bloomberg newswire.
The Rīga Vidzeme District court has set a €70,000 bail for Edgars Teterovskis, a businessman arrested in a probe over large-scale graft in the Rīgas satiksme municipal transport company, the court told the press February 13.
On February 8 Saeima deputee Juris Jurašs (New Conservative Party) was charged with leaking state secrets, the prosecutor's office said.
The Harmony party is on February 9 staging a protest in support of Rīga mayor Nils Ušakovs (Harmony), opposing a cabinet initiative to sack the Rīga City Council after an official was detained in an ongoing probe into municipal transport company Rīgas satiksme.
The economic crime unit of Latvia's State Police have detained Normunds Vilnītis, the former chief of Latvia's anti-graft office, the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB), according to unofficial information reported by LTV.
With Latvia's anti-graft watchdog having confirmed that this week's searches at the office and home of Rīga mayor Nils Ušakovs (Harmony) are in fact related to the ongoing corruption probe over rigged multi-million tenders in Rīga's municipal transport company, LSM presents a brief overview bringing together bits and pieces available about the case.
Lawyer Didzis Vilemsons, representing the businessman Māris Martinsons who has been arrested over the large-scale graft case in the Rīgas satiksme municipal transport company, has turned to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) as he thinks Martinsons is being held behind bars unfairly.
The perception of corruption levels in Latvia remained unchanged in 2018 compared with 2017, according to the annual Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International January 29.
Latvian institutions have given up on trying to obtain a prison sentence for Germans Milušs, a man accused of bribery, as a Russian court has convicted him, albeit with a very mild sentence. He has nevertheless recently been stripped of his Latvian citizenship.
The Saeima Mandate, Ethics and Submissions Committee on January 24 decided to delay the decision on whether or not to allow MP Juris Jurašs (New Conservative Party, JKP) to be handed over for criminal prosecution.
The Prosecutor General’s Office has sent documents to the Saeima, asking to allow criminal prosecution against MP Juris Jurašs (New Conservative Party, JKP) for disclosing state secrets, said Prosecutor General Ēriks Kalnmeiers in an interview with commercial LNT television on January 22.
The State Security Service (VDD, formerly known as Security Police) has named Rūdolfs Brēmanis, a former charge- d'affaires at the Latvian Embassy of the United Arab Emirates, as a suspect in a criminal case.
The Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) on January 11 detained an Internal Security Bureau (IDB) official in a criminal procedure on January 11, the IDB confirmed January 14.
Latvia's State Police have seized more than two tonnes of high-quality cocaine, the police told the press January 14.
Rīgas Satiksme municipal transport company plans to claim over €5 million from the Czech company Skoda for a failure to deliver transport vehicles on time, Rīgas Satiksme acting CEO Anrijs Matīss told LETA.
Potential Justice Minister Jānis Bordāns (New Conservative Party) promises to lift the norm requiring a parliamentary vote to search an MP's place of residence along with other changes in legal immunities hitherto enjoyed by Latvia's parliamentarians, he told the press January 7.
The Riga Regional Court decided on Thursday to keep high-profile businessman Māris Martinsons in custody while a corruption probe involving the “Rīgas satiksme” municipal transport company continues, Martinsons' lawyer Didzis Vilemsons said after a court hearing.
The Riga District Court on Friday ordered Riga municipal transportation company Rīgas satiksme infrastructure development director Igors Volkinšteins to remain in custody.
The annual crackdown on driving home for Christmas with excessive alcohol in the bloodstream has so far resulted in 93 drink-drivers being caught behind the wheel, according to Normunds Krapsis, chief of the traffic department of the Latvian State Police.
In a fillip to embattled Latvian central bank governor Ilmārs Rimšēvičs, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on December 19 said Latvia "has failed to fulfil its obligations" and "has not provided proof of trading in influence alleged to have been committed by the Governor of its central bank."
At a time when the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) is grabbing headlines across Latvian news outlets, the office on December 18 published information over yet another arrest, this time over an attempt to bribe a policeman with over €1 million.
Taking yet more municipal action, the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) has detained former Daugavpils mayor Rihards Eigims (Mūsu partija, Our Party) over a bribery probe.
One of the latest investigations by the Re:Baltica group of journalists gives new meaning to the phrase "new cold war" by revealing a spy was charged with exposing the secrets of Latvian military underwear.
One of the accused in a criminal case in which Bank of Latvia Governor Ilmārs Rimšēvičs has been charged with taking bribes, has begun to testify, reported the LETA news service December 14, citing information from the Prosecutor General's office.
In another high-profile arrest, the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau has detained Leons Bemhens the former head of Rīgas satiksme municipal company, reports LTV December 14.
Latvia's Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) started the Rīgas satiksme graft case over bribery involving Polish and Czech companies as well as officials inside the municipal company and the Rīga City Council, KNAB told the press December 13.