Friday, June 5, 2026

Headlines

criminal law

In the State Chancellery’s procurement for the development of digital public service design, the lowest bid was submitted by the company of the imprisoned businessman Ceruss

In the State Chancellery’s procurement “Development of the design of state administration digital services. Stage 2.” the lowest bid was submitted yesterday by the company “Corporate Consulting” owned by the arrested businessman Ceruss, according to the bid opening record of 23 March. In total, nine companies have submitted bids in the tender, including PricewaterhouseCoopers, Emergn, Civitta Latvia, CUBE Agency, Raccoonery, SDSI studio and TRY Riga. The bid prices range from 27,888 euros to 33,000 euros. […]

State Secretary of the Ministry of Environmental Protection involved in IT scandal temporarily suspended from office

Taking into account the public interest regarding publicly available information about a possible involvement in the unlawful transfer of restricted-access information related to IT procurements, the Minister for Smart Administration and Regional Development, Raimonds Čudars, has suspended the Ministry of Environmental Protection state secretary Edvīns Balševics from performing his official duties, the ministry informs. “Within the framework of the investigation, it is important to ensure that all persons involved in the violations of law are brought to justice, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the State Regional Development Agency fully […]

Law enforcement will be allowed to eavesdrop on cartel organizers

The Saeima Legal Affairs Committee has supported at first reading amendments to the Operational Activities Law, which clarify the procedure for using and transferring information obtained in the course of operational activities in other proceedings. These will ensure a more effective fight against cartels, as well as expand opportunities to uncover other crimes. The amendments were prepared in response to a Supreme Court Senate judgment in the so‑called construction companies cartel case, in which it was concluded that […]

CC: In the Construction Cartel case, the Supreme Court unjustifiably restricts cooperation between law enforcement authorities

The judgment of the Supreme Court Senate’s Department of Administrative Cases in the construction cartel case has raised significant issues regarding cooperation between law‑enforcement institutions, the transfer of lawfully obtained evidence for the detection of cartel agreements, and the effective application of competition law, the Competition Council states. Respecting the Senate’s decision, the Competition Council (CC) emphasizes that in its judgment the Senate did not assess the existence of the prohibited cartel agreement on the merits and did not analyze that without […]

3.5 million contraband cigarettes discovered on the Belarus border

Officials of the State Revenue Service (VID) Customs Board, while carrying out customs controls on Latvia’s border with Belarus, in cooperation with colleagues from the Tax and Customs Police Board, prevented the smuggling of 3,502,000 cigarettes. The cigarettes were hidden in sealed metal buckets, under sawdust that had been poured into them instead of the declared goods – hand-washing products. In total, the cargo contained 175,100 packs of various brands of cigarettes. […]

Bank branch manager has been stealing from clients for 17 years

The officers of the 3rd Bureau, 2nd Unit of the Criminal Police Department of the Riga Regional Department of the State Police have sent to the prosecutor’s office a case for the initiation of criminal prosecution against a bank employee for economic crimes committed over a period of 17 years. While holding the position of branch manager at the bank, the suspect, without the knowledge of clients, carried out unlawful operations with financial instruments in their name, thereby obtaining money belonging to the bank’s clients. The credit institution has compensated […]

The State Revenue Service catches an envelope wage payer red-handed

A criminal proceeding has been initiated in the State Revenue Service Tax and Customs Police Department regarding the payment of “envelope” wages in a company engaged in the installation, maintenance, and repair of ventilation and air-conditioning equipment. During carefully planned operational activities, the payment of “envelope” wages was stopped precisely at the moment they were being paid. The total amount of unpaid personal income tax and mandatory state social insurance contributions will still be clarified […]