A high-ranking civil servant appeared before the Vilnius District Court on Wednesday on charges of bribery, money laundering, illegal enrichment, forgery of documents, fraudulent management and organization of financial accounting.
During the hearing, he said that he fully admits all the charges brought against him.
“Unjustifiable actions, I deeply regret it. When you do such an activity, you don’t think about what you’re doing wrong, you don’t think about the consequences, that there’s no way back. The reason for such behavior is the desire for a better life – it’s easier and simpler and not understanding the consequences, starting with a ruined family life, a feeling of guilt towards children and parents. They did not condone such behavior and did not raise them this way. Loss of friends, it’s really hard,” said G. Pridotkas.
He said he understood that he had committed a serious crime and was sincerely sorry for it.
“Probably no one is as sincerely sorry as I am,” said the accused.
He admitted to prosecutor Vytautas Kukaičius that he did not think he would be arrested. The accused said that he hoped for the least possible sentence.
The case will be examined in the procedure of summary evidence investigation
The European Delegated Prosecutor Vytautas Kukaitis transferred this criminal case to the court with the possibility of conducting an abbreviated examination of the evidence, because Mr. Pridotkas admitted his guilt, and answered the questions of the judge and the prosecutor in court, explaining the situation in detail.
When a person pleads guilty, he can receive a sentence that is one-third less than what the law provides for such a crime. For example, G. Pridotkas faces a prison sentence for bribery. The Criminal Code stipulates that a civil servant or a person equivalent to him, who directly or indirectly accepts, promises or agrees to accept a bribe worth more than 250 MGL for his own benefit or for others, demands or provokes it to be given for legal or illegal action or failure to act in the exercise of his powers, shall be punished by imprisonment from two to eight years. After G. Pridotkas pleads guilty, the case is examined in court in the procedure of abbreviated investigation of evidence, witnesses will not be invited to the hearings.
During the court hearings in May, the materials of the 43 volumes of the case will be published, later the prosecutor will make his closing speech, and he will propose a punishment to the accused.
Took bribes for favors in the future
ELTA reminds that the former director of the National Food and Veterinary Risk Assessment Institute, G. Pridotkas, is accused of using the legal entity established by himself and his wife, as well as 15 other related companies, to accept bribes from natural persons for favors in future public procurements carried out by the institute, legalized criminally acquired funds and illegally enriched. The total amount of bribes, illegal enrichment, and criminally legalized assets specified in the indictment amounts to 296 thousand 871 euros.
G. Pridotkas told the court that he was going to leave his job at the National Institute for Food and Veterinary Risk Assessment, he wanted to start his own business, he asked a businessman he had known for a long time to lend him money. Later, G. Pridotkas prepared the management plans for COVID-19, they were templates, the companies that received the plans, paid the bills to the account of G. Pridotkas’ small association, in reality, this is how G. Pridotkas’ money was legalized – 53 thousand euros. The businessman also hoped for Mr. Pridotka’s favor in the future.
Another businessman, G. Pridotkus, stated that he would pay a bribe if his company won the tender announced by the institute. Consideration was given to how the money would be transferred.
“I said that I have a small association and money can be transferred to its account,” said G. Pridotkas.
Forged contracts and invoices for the purchase of alleged services were prepared, in reality the services were not purchased, in reality the company did not purchase services, but taxes to the state and VAT were paid on the amounts transferred.
The pre-trial investigation by the Special Investigation Service (SST) officers of the Central Board of Investigation was launched in 2021. At the end of the year, STT received information about the suspected illegal financial and personal connections of the companies involved in the public procurements carried out with the funds of the European Union and Lithuanian budgets with the persons implementing and administering the projects.
The prosecutors of the European Delegated Prosecutor’s Office in Lithuania, together with STT investigators and anti-corruption intelligence analysts, after analyzing more than several hundred economic-financial transactions, correspondence, contacts, movement and other data in this case, collected sufficient factual data that allowed the disclosure of a complex scheme of criminal actions : project executors and other interested persons, acting through a chain of intermediary companies and their managers, simulated transactions of purchase and sale of various services, performed fictitious financial transactions in order to hide prior criminal agreements in them, i.e. transfer of bribes, money laundering and illegal enrichment.
A total of 23 persons were prosecuted in this pre-trial investigation. In relation to 3 persons who have committed acts of a corrupt and financial nature, the processes have already been completed in a simplified form of the process, that is, by court criminal orders. The total amount of fines awarded to them is more than 77 thousand. EUR, another 60 thousand euros were confiscated. 12 persons were recognized as having committed intermediate criminal acts and were released from criminal liability by the court and handed over to sureties.
Law enforcement also investigated the actions of the spouse
Law enforcement also investigated the participation of Evelina Pridotkiene, the wife of G. Pridotkos, the former temporary director of the Department of Narcotics, Tobacco and Alcohol Control, in the illegal acquisition of property. On January 31, the court closed the case of E. Pridotkiene with a criminal order and awarded her more than 18 thousand. euro fine. The penal order has entered into force.
After the identification of new criminal acts, including the suspected embezzlement of at least 100,000 euros of European Union funds by fraud, the investigation of 7 other persons was separated and is currently being continued.
The National Food and Veterinary Risk Assessment Institute is a subordinate and accountable institution to the Ministry of Agriculture, it performs the functions of risk assessment and national reference laboratories assigned to it by laws and other legal acts in 39 areas, as well as laboratory research in the areas of food and feed safety and quality and veterinary medicine.
