Suspected bribes of €1.5 million against Plant Production Service managers, staff

In the investigation of possible corruption offences in connection with bribes amounting to €1.5 million, suspicion has been brought against the head of the State Plant Breeding Service, Yuriy Korniyenko, other employees and private individuals, a total of 13 suspects, the Prosecutor General's Office said on Wednesday.

„Among the suspects there are also public servants, of quite high rank, so I will name them“, – Artūras Urbelis, chief prosecutor of the Prosecutor's Office's Department for Investigation of Organized Crime and Corruption, said at a press conference on Wednesday.

He stated that suspicions of bribery acting in an organised group have been brought against the Director of the Office Yuri Kornijenko, his Deputy Mantas Butas, the advisors of the Office Aurelijs Šapranauskas and Agne Silickiene, the interim head of Kaunas regional department Dalia Šubonienė, and the head of the Alytus regional department Giedrius Urbelionis.

„There are also others who are private, non-public persons who took part in the complex scheme of bribery that has been identified,– the prosecutor added.

According to a joint announcement by the Special Investigation Service (STT) and the Prosecutor General's Office, suspicions have also been brought against seven executives of private companies and related persons.

According to the investigation, large bribes were systematically demanded and received from the representatives of companies transporting plants and plant products in return for phytosanitary certificates issued by the Plant Protection Service to the transporters of such goods.

„A phytosanitary certificate is a document that enables an operator transporting products of plant origin to ensure legal imports into third countries. The certificate certifies that the produce complies with the phytosanitary requirements of third countries. Bribes were paid for the quick and smooth issuance of such certificates," explained Dainius Januška, Head of the Central Investigation Department of the STT.

Law enforcement suspects that the total amount of the bribes could reach €1.5 million. "We are talking about sums of money that exceed the amount of 250 MGL (12.5 thousand euros – BNS), which are serious criminal offences," the prosecutor said.

He noted that this pre-trial investigation, launched on 1 October on the basis of the STT's intelligence data, is an „unprecedented investigation into the interpretation of the commission of criminal acts of a corrupt nature“.

According to Mr Urbelis, the main episodes of the investigated criminal offences are related to bribery, bribery and influence peddling. According to the law enforcement, last week and this week over 120 STT officers carried out planned procedural actions in Vilnius, Kaunas, Utena and Alytus counties.

According to Urbelis, on 11 December a large-scale operation was carried out during which suspects were detained and other pre-trial investigative actions were carried out.

Thirteen persons were detained, six of whom were remanded in custody for between one and two months, while the others were subjected to lighter precautionary measures such as intensive supervision or a written promise not to leave the country and the confiscation of documents.

More than 100 searches were carried out and €1.3 million in cash, eight kilograms of gold worth around €1 million, explosives and cocaine were found.

During the searches, the suspects were also found in possession of a large quantity of excise duties; over 11,000 cigarette packs, almost 14,000 litres of alcohol without Lithuanian labels, and suspected narcotic substances and explosives.

„We have successfully passed the initial stage“, – said prosecutor A. Urbelis.

BNS sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed on Tuesday that Vitalija Vonžutaitė, an ex-parliamentarian and the spouse of the former head of the agency, had also been detained during the investigation into possible corruption in the State Plant Breeding Service.

Law enforcement authorities neither confirmed nor denied her detention on Wednesday, citing a decision not to disclose data on private persons for the time being.

V. Vonžutaitė was convicted last decade in the case of the so-called "black bookkeeping" of the Labour Party.

When asked if this operation was in any way related to the large-scale operation carried out these days against cigarette smugglers transporting cigarettes from Belarus to Lithuania by balloon, Urbelis said that it was a coincidence and that the investigations were not related in any way.

At a press conference on Wednesday at the Prosecutor General's Office, Urbelis urged people who had to pay bribes to the State Plant Breeding Service to contact the prosecutor's office or the STT. The law provides for the possibility of exempting such persons from criminal liability.

„You shouldn't wait for us at the door, we prefer to wait for people at our door“, – said the Prosecutor.

Officials did not disclose where the suspects were detained. They were detained at a detention facility in the Republic of Lithuania, Urbelis explained.

The chief prosecutor of the Organised Crime and Corruption Investigation Department said that this is – „one of the most impressive bribery schemes“.

„The record of the former head of Kaunas city administration Viliaus Šiliauskas (convicted for a €260,000 bribe – BNS), mentioned in the media, is broken. You can stop mentioning him, there will be other „heroes“, – A. Urbelis told reporters.