Customs officials took action even before the public publication of the investigation. I. Vēgėlė spoke about this himself in the TV3 studio, saying that he received a call from his brother, “Vilpros” general director Martyn Vēgėlė, and learned about the documents requested by customs.
On Thursday, this was confirmed to “Siena” by the Customs Department.
“Currently, an inspection of the economic and commercial activities of the company you mentioned, its accounting and financial reporting is being carried out, related to the application of customs legislation, during which it is checked whether international sanctions have been complied with,” said Henrika Rukšėnienė, adviser of the Communications Department, in a written comment sent to “Siena”.
According to her, the pre-trial investigation into the facts made public in the “Candidate and Kondyškės” investigation has not been started at the moment, and the officials will make further decisions after the inspection of “Vilpros”.
ELTA reminds that the media announced on Wednesday evening that Vilpra, the heating systems trade and installation group managed by the family of presidential candidate I. Vēgėlė, was possibly circumventing the sanctions imposed on Russia. This was revealed by the investigation of “Laisvės TV”, the investigative journalism center “Siena” and the Belarusian research team “Biuro”.
The company categorically denies any involvement in any possible sanctions circumvention mechanism.
I. Vēgėlė told Elta on Thursday that the mentioned investigation is a public relations campaign that is trying to influence the upcoming presidential elections.
Tags: action investigation
