The State Police has urged the South Latgale Prosecutor’s Office to bring charges in a criminal case against the brother of the father-in-law of Daugavpils Mayor Andrejs Elksniņš (“Sarauj, Latgale!”) for illegal connection to the electricity grid in Daugavpils, the LETA news agency has learned.
In a statement to the media, the State Police indicated that on the 25th of March this year, employees of AS Sadales tīkls discovered an illegal electricity connection during an inspection of a private property in Daugavpils.
A criminal case was launched at the South Latgale precinct for unauthorized electricity consumption without metering and without legal grounds.
The case was later transferred to the Economic Crime Combating Division of the Zemgale Regional Department for further investigation.
During the investigation, several procedural actions were carried out, including a search,
witness interviews, and other measures.
One person — a man born in 1952 — has been declared a suspect. He has not been previously known to the police. LETA has learned that the person in question is Volodarskis — the brother of Elksniņš’ father-in-law.
The pre-trial investigation established that, over a period up to 25 March, this person had set up an illegal connection to the electricity grid in order to consume electricity on a private property in Daugavpils without metering and without legal grounds.
To avoid paying for the electricity actually consumed, he organised the creation of an illegal three-phase electricity connection using a cable that bypassed the electricity meter.
At the same time,
the offence caused financial damage to the electricity distribution system operator AS Sadales tīkls,
as the company’s cable was damaged.
The illegal and unmetered electricity consumption resulted in material losses of more than €10,000 for the company.
The offence is punishable by short-term imprisonment, probation supervision, community service, or a fine.
In April, TV3’s programme Nekā personīga reported that the illegal connection had possibly existed for many years at a property belonging to the Elksniņš family.
The more than 8,000-m² plot of land and two-storey house on the shore of Lake Šuņezers — where the Daugavpils mayor had lived for some time with his wife Jekaterina Elksniņa — belongs to Elksniņš’ mother Broņislava Elksniņa and his partner. Previously, the property was owned by Elksniņš’ father-in-law Anatolijs Volodarskis and his family members.
Photos, videos, and reports obtained by the programme show that on the 25th of March, employees of Sadales tīkls from Balvi and Ventspils arrived at the property on Cēsu Street in Daugavpils on suspicion of electricity theft — after local staff reportedly refused to visit the address.
Elksniņš’ father-in-law was at the property and allegedly hinted to workers not to carry out the inspection.
Police and also Elksniņš’ wife Jekaterina later arrived at the scene.
According to Nekā personīga, Sadales tīkls employees discovered a buried illegal device hidden in a concrete manhole, equipped with magnetic switches allowing the user to switch between a legal and illegal electricity connection.
The mayor of Daugavpils has distanced himself from the situation and urged journalists to address questions to his wife and father-in-law. He said he no longer lives at the property. “If what happened, happened — it is not acceptable to me,” the politician told the programme.
Elksniņš claimed that during the time he lived at the property, he did not pay for electricity. However, Nekā personīga reported that his email address — the same one used in his legal practice — was listed as the official contact for bills and the electricity contract for the property.
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