Leaders of Lithuanian ruling coalition party avoid imprisonment for fraudulent bookkeeping

The Lithuanian Court of Appeals decided on Monday to acquit the leaders of the country's Labour Party of tax fraud but sentenced them for fraudulent bookkeeping.

The Court handed down the verdict to Viktor Uspaskich, the former leader of the Labour Party and member of the European Parliament; Vytautas Gapsys, the party's member at Lithuanian parliament; and Marina Liutkeviciene, the former accountant of the Labour party.

The ruling means the defendants have escaped real imprisonment and will instead receive fines.

"Since all three convicts have been acquitted of part of the accusations and remain guilty only of one accusation, the fraudulent bookkeeping, the part of the ruling in regards to consolidation of their penalties has been abolished," announced the Court in its statement.

Uspaskich will have to pay a fine of around 6,878 euros (about 7,497 U.S. dollars), Gapsys received a fine of 3,620 euros, and Liutkeviciene 5,792 euros.

A year and a half ago, a regional court in Vilnius found Uspaskich guilty of fraud and fraudulent bookkeeping and sentenced him to four years in prison. The former accountant was sentenced to a year in prison, while Gapsys received a fine of around 10,000 euros.

When appealing to the Lithuanian Court of Appeals, the defendants asked the court for a complete acquittal, insisting the case was politically motivated.

The ruling can be appealed to the Supreme Court of Lithuania.

Lithuanian prosecutors haven't ruled out the possibility of an appeal, news website vz.lt reported.

Lithuania's Labour Party, a member of the Social Democrat- led ruling coalition, had been accused of failing to record around seven million euros in income and around 6.6 million euros in spending in its books from 2004 to 2006.

The lawsuit against the Labour party as a legal entity was canceled after the party was merged with its daughter party, forming a new legal entity in 2013. (1 euro = 1.09 U.S. dollars) Endit