Financial Services, Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies

The court has altered her security measure from custody to prohibiting her from leaving the country, her attorney Sandris Sprogis confirmed to LETA.

As reported, the organized group connected to the owners of the ''Gan Bei'' restaurant chain stole between EUR 700,000 to EUR 800,000 per month from the company's cash registers, or approximately 50 percent of monthly turnover. Earlier this month, the Finance Police detained seven persons involved in this scheme, including the wife of MP Sergejs Potapkins (Harmony), who was one of the ring leaders of this criminal group.

Potapkins' wife Galina Karmaca is a co-owner of Lage Ko Ltd., which owns and operates the ''Gan Bei'' restaurant chain.

Police searches were also carried out at one of Latvia's largest cash register system developers, who have a wide range of clients throughout the country. Together with the cash register systems, this company offered clients special malware programs which allowed them to reduce the actual amount of money in their cash registers and take these sums out of the cash out of the registers. In such a way, the company was able to reduce its official turnover, the SRS informs.

''This criminal group operated a very complicated structure, and carefully planned all of its actions. It was made up of top-level specialists. Also detained is the top management of the involved cash register system company, as well as the developers of this malware programs,'' SRS Finance Police Chief Kaspars Podins said during a press conference earlier this month.