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Roundup: Latvian court clears Freeport of Riga CEO, his deputy of abuse-of-power charges

Xinhua, January 5, 2017 Adjust font size:

A district court here on Wednesday acquitted Freeport of Riga CEO Leonids Loginovs and his deputy Aigars Pecaks who had been charged with abuse of office powers.

Riga City Northern District Court cleared Loginovs and Pecaks of all charges that had been brought against them for paying unlawful bonuses and using the port's money to make donations.

The port officials' defense lawyers argued in court that the port's money their clients had allegedly spent on donations had in fact been transferred as part of commercial deals. As for the bonuses, they were paid after the defendants had complied with the main requirement -- to cut the port's payroll by 15 percent, the lawyers said.

The justice who ruled to acquit Loginovs and Pecaks said that the evidence presented to the court was insufficient to convict the defendants. It was also not clear if paying the bonuses constituted a violation after the austerity target was met.

The verdict in the case can be appealed within ten days of Jan. 18 when the judge is due to release the full text of the ruling. The prosecution was not sure on Wednesday whether the appeal would be lodged.

A criminal probe was launched against Loginovs and Pecaks in 2013 after an audit report alleged unlawful activities at the Freeport of Riga.

In 2013, the Latvian State Audit Office released a report accusing the Freeport of Riga of misspending over 58 million euros (60 million U.S. dollars). Still, the Riga City Council whose representatives sit on the Freeport of Riga Board, refused to sack Loginovs saying that they had to wait for the law enforcement authorities' findings first.

The alleged violations included paying bonuses to Freeport of Riga employees at a time when the Latvian government had imposed a ban on bonuses for employees of state-owned enterprises, providing financial support to a nautical school in the southwestern Latvian port city of Liepaja and using the port's money to make a donation to Fukushima earthquake victims.

Loginovs and Pecaks denied any wrongdoing on their part.

During the trial, the prosecution asked the judge to ban the two port officials from holding managerial positions in municipal enterprises and to slap fines on them.

Riga is the largest port in Latvia by cargo turnover and passenger numbers. Endit