Court to continue hearing claim for €32 million from former PNB Bank executives in October

The Riga City Court will continue hearing the case on October 6 at 2 PM, where the administrator of the insolvent PNB Bank, Vigo Krastiņš, is seeking to recover €32 million from nine former board and council members of the bank. The defendants include former bank owner and council chairman Grigorijs Guseļņikovs, former Danish Prime Minister and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former head of Germany's foreign intelligence service August Hanning, and six other individuals.

Krastiņš previously explained to LETA that the claim is related to losses incurred from transactions with an investor group led by US citizen Roger Tamraz, whom Guseļņikovs presented as new bank owners before its closure. The bank assigned its claims against these persons to the new investors, but the assignment agreements did not require immediate payment and were unsecured.

Furthermore, the bank granted a significant loan to these investors so they could purchase assets that would later be pledged as collateral—a decision that, according to Krastiņš, required approval from all board members, which was not obtained. He considers this to be unlawful and negligent behavior by both the board and the council.

The court has already seized assets belonging to several defendants, including Rasmussen's apartment in Denmark valued at over €700,000 and Hanning's house in Germany, as well as shares in their companies. Guseļņikovs, however, officially owns only shares in a Cypriot company worth six euros, which may be insufficient to cover the damages if the claim is successful.

PNB Bank's operations were suspended on August 15, 2019, following a decision by the European Central Bank, and it was declared insolvent on September 12 of the same year. The ECB found that the bank had failed to meet regulatory requirements and was facing financial difficulties. At that time, Guseļņikovs held 23.47% of the bank's shares, down from his previous 95.97% stake.