Bank employee in Latvia jailed for criminal activities involving client funds

On the 22nd of April, 2026, the Zemgale District Court delivered a verdict in a criminal case involving a bank employee accused of unlawful activities with financial instruments and means of payment on a large scale, as well as document forgery for personal gain, according to the Latvijas Republikas prokuratūra.

The court sentenced the defendant to six years of imprisonment, 420 hours of community service, and an additional penalty of three years of probation supervision. The court also upheld the compensation claim, ordering the defendant to pay 202,555.75 euros to the bank.

The case was referred to court on the 3rd of October, 2025, by a prosecutor from the East Zemgale Prosecutor’s Office. By abusing her position, the defendant, between the 11th of September, 2003, and the 27th of May, 2020, without the knowledge of clients, concluded remote banking service agreements in their names, registered the issuance of code cards, authentication devices, and payment cards, terminated deposit agreements, arranged loan contracts, and unlawfully transferred clients’ funds, thereby gaining access to their financial resources.

To conceal her actions, she used part of the misappropriated funds to cover claims from other clients. In total, she unlawfully used the payment instruments of 19 individuals, causing damages amounting to 203,755.75 euros.

The material losses suffered by the clients were compensated by the credit institution,

which consequently obtained the status of a victim in the case.

The woman was convicted of nine criminal offenses under Section 275, Part Two of the Criminal Law (document forgery), six offenses under Section 193, Part Two, and thirteen offenses under Section 193, Part Four (related to unlawful use of financial instruments and payment means).

The prosecutor expressed satisfaction with the sentence and does not plan to request a full written judgment. Other parties involved in the proceedings may, within ten days from the announcement of the abbreviated judgment, request the preparation of the full judgment in writing. If such a request is made, the court will prepare the full judgment, which can then be appealed within ten working days from the date it becomes available.

The Prosecution Office emphasized that no person is considered guilty until their guilt is established in accordance with the procedures set out in the Criminal Procedure Law.

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