School Director and Ad Agency Head Taken to Court Over Fictitious Procurements Worth €27,620

On July 14, prosecutors submitted a criminal case to Riga City Court against two individuals. The director of a vocational education institution is charged with repeated abuse of office, exceeding official authority, and forgery of documents for personal gain. The actual manager and beneficial owner of an advertising agency is charged with fraud, document forgery, and money laundering of criminally obtained funds.

According to the indictment, the director colluded with the agency head to organize price surveys, have the agency submit bids and be declared the winner, thereby securing contracts and payment. The director used his position to order surveys, decide on budget expenditures, and instruct accounting to pay invoices. The agency head prepared bids, contracts, invoices, and acceptance certificates using another person's identity and electronic signature—the nominal director of the company.

A total of five price surveys were conducted. In some cases, services were unnecessary or not provided; in others, procurements were artificially split to avoid the Public Procurement Law and charge inflated prices. To ensure payment, contracts and acceptance certificates were forged with false information.

The agency head laundered €27,620.39 by changing their location and ownership, and masking their placement and movement. This resulted in illegal acquisition of state budget funds, causing financial losses to the Republic of Latvia.

The case also involves applying coercive measures to the legal entity, the advertising agency, which served as a cover for the crimes. The defendants do not fully admit guilt. The prosecutor's office emphasizes that no one is considered guilty until proven otherwise in accordance with criminal procedure law.