The second court system official that is involved in the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau’s criminal proceedings about the employment of fictitious employees and using the money on the said employees’ bank accounts is none other than Riga District Court (RDC) Civil Court panel judge Skaidrite Buivide.

RDC Chairwoman Sandra Strence declined giving the name of the other judge involved in the CPCB criminal proceedings along with Riga City Zemgale Suburb Court Chairman Ziedonis Strazds. Strence said she does not want to ruin the reputation of any of her colleagues.

Strence is currently on vacation, and Buivide was appointed to fulfil Strence’s duties during this time. However, she was unavailable to contact.

The CPCB does not report the names of the detainees. CPCB press-representative Ieva Kucika confirmed that some Chairman of Riga Suburb Court is detained. According to LETA, Strazds was the one to be detained.

Also, the evidence the CPCB uncovered give enough reasons to believe another Riga Suburb Court judge had a hand in the scheme. According to LETA, this judge is Buivide.

Criminal proceedings have been initiated against two judges. Pre-court investigation uncovered that several individuals have been fictitiously employed at the court for many years. It is likely that a Chairman of the court had a hand in the scheme involving individuals that never worked at the court to begin with. Moreover, these individuals were being transferred salaries.

Several searches and other criminal procedures were also performed during the investigation.

Riga City Zemgale Suburb Court Deputy Chairwoman Aiga Freimane declined giving comments on the actions of CPCB operatives. She said that she never received any information on the activities of the bureau’s operatives.

Ref: 102.109.109.2981