On Thursday, 15 September, Latvia’s Minister of Finance Jānis Reirs issued the order for the initiation of disciplinary action and dismissal of the head of the State Revenue Service Ieva Jaunzeme, as conformed by the ministry.
The order was issued based on a result of an internal investigation and as a response to the recent proceedings performed by the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) and arrests of multiple people, including officials of VID Customs and Finance Police.
According to Reirs, the criminal group arrested by Latvian authorities consist of high-level VID employees, adding that what happened was no coincidence.
«The arrested people are not some low-level inspectors or customs officers,» said the minister.
Reirs believes such in this situation, it is impossible to believe no one at the institution was aware of what was happening right under their noses.
According to information from the Ministry of Finance
the internal investigation looked into Jaunzeme’s actions. The report concluded there are signs of unjustified non-performance or late, negligent or poor quality performance of a particular order or task.
This may have resulted in considerable damages to state interests. Jaunzeme’s actions may show signs of disciplinary violation of Section 36 of Law on Disciplinary Liability of State Civil Servants, the ministry notes.
«Such crimes are possible only thanks to loopholes in internal control mechanisms and insufficient supervision,» says the minister of finance, adding that an in-depth investigation is needed to find out how something like that is possible in this institution.
«This is why I have made the decision to dismiss the VID director general from her post,» said Reirs.
He also stressed that in the past two evaluations Jaunzeme had received a low score.
«There is no way to avoid responsibility for any longer. It is also impossible to keep her in her post, so that no interference with the disciplinary case is possible,» stressed the minister of finance.
The director of VID IT Department Indra Kārkliņa is appointed as acting director general of VID.