The State Revenue Service (VID) has raided several Catholic churches, announced the Roman Catholic Church in Latvia on June 11.
Saeima voted June 6 to lift the parliamentary immunity of KPV LV deputy Atis Zakatistovs, opening the way for him to face charges in connection with an alleged illegal business scheme.
The State Environment Service (VVD) has issued a "decision-warning" about partial suspension of operations at Olaine chemical plant Biolar – suspending the manufacturing of the chemical porofors, the LETA newswire reported June 5.
Latvian central bank governor Ilmārs Rimšēvičs has had the charge sheet against him further extended with an accusation of money-laundering added to the charge he already faced of soliciting a massive bribe, reported the Bloomberg financial newswire June 4.
Due to suspicions of corruption, there is a risk Latvia will have to repay 10.95 million euros allocated from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to the project for construction of Ventspils Music School, according to comments from the Central Finance and Contracting Agency’s (CFLA) official Daiga Reihmane, reported by the LETA newswire.
In a report published June 3 on corruption prevention in Latvia in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors, the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption group (GRECO) said it "regrets the lack of measures concerning regulation on lobbying, parliamentary ethics and conflicts of interest."
Although penalties for the distribution or use of illegal plant protection products may reach up to 350 euros for individuals and 700 euro for legal entities, unauthorized weed or pest chemicals can easily be obtained at the Rīga Central Market.
A dispute between three men over hockey turned into a brutal fight with two men dead and one under arrest, the Latvijas Avīze daily reported May 26.
The State Environment Service (VVD) inspectors and police officers have detained a polluter who has leaked chemical substance on roadsides in the Zemgale cultural region, VVD told the press.
Last week, the State Police detained a "black archaeologist" who had been selling war-time munitions and explosives to foreigners and sending them by post without permission, the State Police told the press May 27.
Justice Minister Jānis Bordāns (New Conservative Party) said May 22 he'll review a decision by judge Vivita Freimane to free a man who cut his wife's ear off after a restraining order had been put on him.
The RĪga City Latgale District Court on May 24 found Inga Koļegova, former head of the State Environmental Service guilty of providing false information in her public official’s asset declaration and fined her with €3,010.
The Rīga District Court has sentenced a young man to a life behind bars for killing a pregnant woman last February, the Prosecutor's spokeswoman Laura Majevska told the press May 22.
The Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) has requested the Rīga District Prosecutor's Office to begin prosecution against former Rīga Central Market official Vitālijs Ļitvins for bribe taking and attempted bribe taking.
Rīga's municipal police force went above and beyond the call of duty - and the call of nature - May 15 when they apprehended three goats in Bolderāja (the suburb, not the bookshop).
Illegal activities of the Rīga Tourism Development Bureau’s (RTAB) officials have resulted in losses of at least €300,000 according to preliminary estimates, representatives of the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) told the press May 16.
Investigative group the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) released new data about the so-called "Troika laundromat" money laundering scheme May 15 and as expected, it contained plenty of references to Latvian companies and banks.
Latvia's anti-graft office, the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) has detained Inguna Priedīte, the office chief of the Rīga Tourism Development Board, reports Latvian Television May 15.
Latvia's dedicated anti-corruption force, the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) said May 13 it is probing the Rīga Tourism Development Bureau (RTAB) for a range of serious offences including forgery, fraud and wasting public money.
In April, the Latvian State Police detained a group of seven drug dealers and seized more than 10 kilos of carfentanil.
While the legal deer hunting season in Latvia is short, the stag season is longer... infinitely longer. Unfortunately the first buck of the year was recently spotted in Rīga, in a state of rutting over-excitement and making full use of its seasonal coloration for display purposes: namely, pink tights, pink hoodie with yellow spots and a pair of black knickers disappearing distressingly into the recesses of a more than ample hind quarter.
Former Riga City Council official Ārija Stabiņa, who had fled arrest for years and was detained last year after being deported from Egypt, has pleaded guilty to accusations of taking bribes and wants to reach a settlement with the prosecutor.
The multiple ongoing scandals at the Rīgas satiksme (Riga transport) municipal company increased by yet another order of magnitude April 28 with LTV's De Facto investigative show revealing the identities of more "consulatants" paid large sums of money by the company for services of dubious value - with the suspicion that the payments were more about ensuring political support than anything to do with running a transport system more efficiently.
The Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) has informed the State Police that several advisors at Rīga municipal public transport company Rīgas Satiksme may have been employed and salaried although they have actually not done anything for the company.
Latvia's competition watchdog, the Competition Council of Latvia, has imposed a fine of €2.4 million on Rīgas satiksme municipal transport company, as well as a much smaller fine on another company for bid rigging in the so-called "nanowater case".
Latvia's General Prosecutor has asked the Saeima to lift the parliamentary immunity from prosecution of KPV LV deputy Atis Zakatistovs, reported LSM's Latvian service.
The Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) on April 5 launched criminal proceedings and detained three persons at a Rīga hospital in connection with suspected "abuse of official powers", according to information released by the agency April 15.
Officers of the State Police detained Latvia’s ten most active keepers and distributors of child pornography in a sweeping operation last week, Oļegs Lavcinovskis, head of the State Police’s sex crime division, told journalists April 10.
Responding to the prosecution’s protest, Riga Regional Court last week sentenced businessman Valērijs Vasiļjevs to three years in jail for offering a bribe to the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau's (KNAB) former officer Juris Jurašs (pictured above), the LETA newswire said April 8.
Latvia's border customs officers have become quite accomplished at catching illegal consignments of cigarettes and other contraband coming into the European Union from Russia, but on April 3 they found something else: 28 military daggers hidden in the cab of a truck.