Fire season in Latvia gets a bit dangerous when the illegal, but popular practice of burning last year's grass begins in the spring - over the weekend the State Fire and Rescue Service had to put out 121 such fires, but this year landfill fires are entering the ring too - one on March 28 in Tukums and another today in Rīga, according to Latvian Television.
Today a fake news WhatsApp message warning about the coming spread of a phone virus has been spreading in Latvia via the mobile messaging application, according to Information Technology Security Incident Response Institution Cert.lv on March 23.
Prosecutor General Ēriks Kalnmeiers has submitted a demand to the Vidzeme Regional Court that the First Evangelical Jesus Congregation (Pirmā Evanģēliskā Jēzus draudze) cease operations, according to a press release on March 20.
Kristīne Misāne has been charged after being returned from Denmark in a high-profile case that sparked diplomatic tensions between Denmark and Latvia, reported LTV March 16.
An internal investigation conducted by Clifford Chance revealed that 4.8 million US dollars' worth of Swedbank transactions in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia could have possibly been made in violation of U.S. sanctions, according to a Swedbank press release on March 11.
After checking the content of 18 Instagram "influencers", all were found to have some form of advertising standards violation, most of which were not disclosing paid advertising, according to the Consumer Rights Protection Centre (PTAC) on March 9.
The State Police Economic Crimes Unit (ENAP) has begun 50 criminal procedures regarding possible money laundering through ABLV Bank, according to the State Police on March 6.
Latvian State Police said March 9 they have seized half a million dollars in assets linked to the notorious and complex Russian money-laundering operation that caused the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
Latvian citizen Kristīne Misāne was returned from Denmark to Latvia on March 3, LTV reported.
In 2019 the number of criminal cases handed in to the courts involving money laundering increased significantly, along with the number of defendants, according to the Prosecution Office on February 27.
UK communications regulator Ofcom fined Baltic Media Alliance 20,000 pounds (23,000 euros) after receiving a complaint from the Latvian National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP) regarding violations on the NTV Mir Baltic television channel broadcast by the company, according to the regulator on February 17.
Several hundred whistleblower reports have been received almost a full year since the Whistleblowing Law took effect in Latvia, although only 25% meet the criteria, according to State Chancellery Director Jānis Citskovskis on February 26.
The high profile extradition case of Kristīne Misāne has put the spotlight on Latvians detained abroad. On average, 300 Latvian citizens and nationals (so-called "non-citizens" are also entitled to consular protection) are detained abroad for various types of crimes each year, reported Latvian Radio on February 25.
A black panther confiscated by the Latvian State Police in the Skanste neighborhood has ended up in the Rīga Zoo along with the crocodile, monkey, owls, wolves and lynxes confiscated over the past few years, according to Latvian Television's “4. studija” (“4th Studio”) on February 23.
Extraordinary scenes at the Ukraine-Hungary border have been released featuring one of Latvia's Honorary Consuls in Ukraine being dragged from his car after he refused to comply with requests to leave it by the normal method.
A Danish court on February 20 upheld a decision by the Danish Attorney General to overturn the planned extradition of Latvian citizen Kristīne Misāne to South Africa, clearing the way for her return to Latvia to face criminal charges in her homeland instead of on another continent.
A fire in the RERE Meistari workshop has destroyed historical interior details dating back to the 1930s from the New Castle in Sigulda, according to the State Inspection for Heritage Protection on February 19.
On February 15 border guards in the Krāslava area found illegally cut trees in the border zone, according to the State Border Guard on February 18.
On February 18, 2020 – six years and three months after the catastrophic collapse of a Maxima supermarket roof - the Rīga City Pārdaugava Court passed down its verdicts for the defendants in the Zolitūde tragedy criminal case.
Over the last four months a special unmarked police vehicle fitted with a 360 degree camera has been keeping an eye on the driving culture and violations of Rīga residents, and has already caught 1,600 offences on camera, according to the State Police on February 15.
The State Environmental Service (VDD) Liepāja Regional Environmental Administration inspectors once again discovered petroleum products in the River Venta in Kuldīga, according to the VDD on February 12.
The defendants in the Rīga's Children's Clinical University Hospital (BKUS) bribery case pleaded guilty at the Rīga City Pārdaugava Court and agreed to the penalties suggested by the Prosecutor's Office by signing an agreement on February 13, according to Latvian Television.
The extradition case concerning Latvian citizen Kristīne Misāne and the legal systems of Latvia, Denmark and South Africa has been extensively reported in Latvian media, including LSM, but until now comment from the South African side and specifically from Johann Grobler, the father of one of the children concerned, has been notable by its absence.
The Council for the Judiciary plans to identify problem factors and discussed ways to minimize issues with lengthy court proceedings in a February 10 meeting, according to Latvian Radio.
Five employees of the Rīga municipal housing management company “Rīgas namu pārvaldnieks” (RNP) have been arrested in connection to the ongoing fraud investigation, according to the State Police on February 4.
The security services of Latvia and Estonia on February 4 mounted a coordinated operation to counter what are believed to be attempts to evade international sanctions. Raids were carried out, including at media companies broadcasting Russian state-backed channels.
Authorities arrested Niks Endziņš, who has formerly been accused of spreading fake news, on February 2 for inciting national and ethnic hatred online, as well as for spreading fake news about the new Chinese coronavirus, according to the State Police on February 3.
Criminal proceedings, including conducting a company search on January 30, have begun against municipal housing management company “Rīgas namu pārvaldnieks” (RNP) in regards to large-scale organized fraud and money laundering, and two persons have been detained, including the “Liftu alianse” company owner Igors Babkins, according to Latvian Television on January 31.
Latvia's State Police on January 31 praised "excellent cooperation" with their Estonian counterparts as the two Baltic forces teamed up to catch a car thieves taking vehicles across the border.
In 2019 the State Police Economic Crimes Unit recorded a possible cyberattack on a Latvian education institution, and over the past two years, small and medium sized enterprises have been frequently the victims of these types of attacks, according to the State Police on January 29.