Former Daugavpils Mayor Eigims Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Demanding a €10,000 Bribe
Latvia's Supreme Court Senate upheld the verdict against Rihards Eigims, the former chairman of Daugavpils City Council, who was found guilty of demanding a bribe from a businessman. He received a prison term of one year and six months, and the ruling cannot be appealed.
A guilty verdict has entered into force in Latvia against Rihards Eigims, the former chairman of the Daugavpils City Council, who was found guilty of demanding a €10,000 bribe from businessman Jānis Sprūga and of illegally keeping firearm ammunition. The verdict took effect on 30 September, when the Senate of the Supreme Court, reviewing a cassation appeal against a ruling of the Riga Regional Court, left that ruling unchanged. The Senate's decision cannot be appealed. The case was reported by the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB), which investigated the criminal proceedings.
What the investigation found
According to the case materials examined in court, the then public official demanded a bribe from the businessman in exchange for favourable decisions related to construction procurement by the Daugavpils City Council. The KNAB investigation also established that Eigims had kept firearm ammunition without the required permit. The bureau opened the criminal case on 17 September 2018.
The sentence
Eigims was sentenced to one year and six months of imprisonment. The court also ordered the confiscation of a vehicle and a vehicle trailer and imposed a fine of €2,220. In addition, he is barred for one year from holding the post of a public official in state and municipal institutions and companies, and he was placed under probation supervision for one year.
The businessman was found guilty of promising a bribe after it had been demanded. He, too, was placed under probation supervision for one year. The company SIA Modus Būve was subjected to a coercive measure, a recovery of €14,800.
