One of the inventors of the „Electronic Nose“ „Foodsniffer“, innovator of agri-food technologies, founder of the company „ART21“, well-known national businessman Augustas Alešiūnas has been convicted of fraud, bribery, inciting other persons to falsify documents and to fraudulently manage the financial accounts of the companies they manage.

A Vilnius Regional Court fined Ales Alešiūnas, who presents himself as an expert and a mentor, €103,000. The man was facing a one-third higher penalty, but he pleaded guilty and accepted the amount of the fine proposed by the prosecutor, so the case was closed with a criminal order and the court imposed a fine of one-third less than the one-third imposed by law.

The criminal order issued by Judge Jurgita Kolyčienė entered into force today.

The property damage caused by the above-mentioned offences has already been compensated – A. Alešiūnas has transferred the damage caused to the Ministry of Economy and Innovations and the Innovation Agency by the pre-trial investigation in September, which amounted to more than EUR 130 thousand, to the depository account of the General Prosecutor's Office.

„In the case under review, it has been established that the property damage was caused by the illegal actions of A. Alešiūnas and P. Kazokaitis related to the fraudulent acquisition of European Union and Lithuanian state budget funds, i.e. The Ministry of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania and the Agency would not have suffered any property losses if the defendants had not acted unlawfully, therefore it is concluded that in this case the causal link between the unlawful (criminal) actions and the damage caused has been established in the case, –, – the criminal order reads.

The case has established that A. Alešiūnas, in accordance with a premeditated plan, from 4 October 2021 to 28 March 2022, in Vilnius, aimed to fraudulently obtain funds from the European Union Structural Funds and the Lithuanian State Budget through a chain of fictitious transactions, by presenting an allegedly legitimate sequence of the creation of research and expert development services (products) and then their purchase-sale, and, accordingly, by intentionally representing fictitious prices for the creation of such services and the inflated prices of the purchase and sale of such services (products). Swiss and Estonian companies were used in the chain of fictitious transactions.

In this case, the Special Investigation Service (SIT) and the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) have also established that between 7 October 2021 and 10 January 2022, A. Alešiūnas gave a bribe of more than EUR 88,000 to Gediminas Pridotkas, the former Director of the National Institute for Food and Veterinary Risk Assessment (NIVRA), in return for G. Pridotkas' lawful action in the exercise of his authority, i.e. favouring and granting an exclusive position to companies represented by A. Alešiūnas in the context of the Institute's participation in a pre-commercial procurement procedure and in future.

A. Mr Alešiūnas told the investigators that he had met Mr Pridotkas in 2013 during a business mission to Turkmenistan. In 2021, the two men met several times at a restaurant in Vilnius, during one of which Mr Pridotkas told Mr Alešiūnas that the institute he was heading was set to receive funding for a number of pre-commercial procurement projects.

 

In order to ensure that the current pre-commercial procurement would run smoothly and that there would be no bottlenecks, Mr Pridotkas wanted Mr Alešiūnas to give him a bribe, and also asked him to organise a model for a bribe scheme. Mr Alešiūnas promised to do so and devised the mechanism for the bribe as set out in the indictment.

A. The pre-trial investigation of Mr Alešiūnas was separated from a large-scale pre-trial investigation, in which the former head of the NMVRVI, Mr Pridotkas, has been convicted and is already serving a prison sentence in jail.

He and his spouse Evelina Pridotkienė had to pay a total of about a third of a million euros to the State in this case, more than €332,800. This amount includes the confiscated bribe and fines.

A. A. Alešiūnas is presented in the public sphere as an innovative entrepreneur and a business angel in the „FoodTech“ and „AgTech“ sectors. He was the first in Lithuania to attract investment from a venture capital fund for the development of digitalisation solutions for the agri-food sector. Since 2008, the companies he has led have attracted more than EUR 10 million in investments.

„Augustas actively invests in „AgriFood“ sector solutions based on artificial intelligence, spectroscopy and blockchain technologies. Last year, the company „ART21”, which he founded and leads, represented Lithuania at the global digital solutions competition „World Summit Awards“ in the Environment and Green Energy category and was listed as one of the Lithuanian TOP Startups by the „Financial Times“ sponsored European technology news platform „Sifted“, „ announced „ART21”.

A . Alešiūnas has repeatedly made various presentations and participated in events, which were also attended by high-ranking Lithuanian officials and ministers. 
A large-scale pre-trial investigation by officers of the Central Investigation Department of the STT was initiated in late 2021 following information received by the STT on the suspected illegal financial and personal links of companies involved in public procurement contracts financed by the European Union and Lithuanian budgets with the persons executing and managing the projects.

„The ability of the Special Investigation Service officers to detect not only acts of a corrupt nature, but also complex frauds in scientific – innovative projects funded by the European Union, are timely, such successful and professional investigations are used to combat crimes that cause serious damage to the financial interests of the European Union, while at the same time there is a clear institutional need to strengthen existing preventive measures to prevent such criminal schemes from being used in the future," commented the European Delegated Prosecutor V. Kukaitis.

The verdict successfully concludes a large-scale criminal proceeding against Alešiūnas, which was initiated in connection with corruption offences related to public procurement at the National Institute of Food and Veterinary Risk Assessment.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, a total of 29 persons were prosecuted during the proceedings, which will result in more than €700,000,000 being awarded to the State for the protection of the State's and the EU's financial interests, through the confiscation of assets, the application of compensation for damages, and the imposition of financial penalties.