Financial Services, Latvia, Legislation, Transport

The investigation established that the group of persons rigged the municipal transport company's procurement of nano-detergents and other cleaning aids by arranging the conclusion of a contract with a supplier. The selected supplier in 2013 supposedly delivered nano-detergents, even though the company did not possess such detergents, the police said. The evidence suggests that labels and documents of the products were forged.

After the group had successfully implemented the fraud within one agreement, it decided to repeat the procurement in 2014.

The police believes that the fraud has caused more than EUR 700,000 loss to Rigas Satiksme company. The criminal activities were bused in 2015 when mass media reported on possible fraud.

A fraud conducted on a large scale or by an organized group carries a jail term of 2-10 years.

The police also noted that some of the persons involved in the fraud scheme will also face charges of money laundering. This crime carried a jail term of 3-12 years.

Restrictive measures that do not involve detention are imposed on the suspects.

The State police during investigation cooperation with the prosecutor’s office investigating financial and economic crimes and several foreign law enforcement institutions. The case contains about 10,000 pages divided into 40 volumes.

On February 1, 2015, the Nothing Personal analytical news program of TV3 commercial TV reported that Rigas Satiksme may be possibly involved in a fraud scheme related to the company's procurement of detergents and other cleaning aids – payments have been made for nano-detergents, but just plain water has been supplied instead.

Responding to the TV report, about the procurement of "nanotechnological" detergents and other cleaning aids, Rigas Satiksme initiated a disciplinary investigation. The company set up a disciplinary investigative commission, but the inquiry found no violations in the procurement procedure.