On Tuesday, the 29th of October, Riga City Court declared Russian citizen Viktor Krivoshei guilty of murdering insolvency administrator Mārtiņš Bunkus and sentenced him to life in prison. Businessmen Aleksandrs Babenko and Mihails Uļmans were declared guilty of ordering a murder. The two were sentenced to 15 years in prison.
All of the accused were also sentenced to a probation period of three years.
Similarly, the court of first instance decided to award compensation of EUR 171 462 from the accused in favour of the victims: in favour of the victim’s father Ojārs Bunkus and brothers Kaspars and Kristaps Bunkus in the amount of EUR 43 000 each, but the victim’s mother Dace Bunkus must be paid EUR 42 462.
The verdict has yet to come into force and is subject to appeal in Riga Regional Court.
Previously, prosecutor Rumants Kuzma requested life imprisonment with probation period of three years for the shooter – Krivoshei.
For the two accused businessmen – 1961-born Babenko and 195-born Uļmans – the prosecutor requested 20-year prison sentence for each, as well as probation period of three years and confiscation of property.
According to information Firmas.lv, in May 2022 Latvian State Police applied and arrest on Babenko’s owned property – capital shares owned in multiple companies, such as 32.58% in LLC Gruodis worth EUR 2 428 348 in order to cover the recovery of procedural expenses, compensation for the harm suffered by the victim and also the possible confiscation of property as an additional punishment. The company also owns 62% of retailer Mego capital.
The State Police also applied an arrest on the capital shares owned by Uļmans in multiple companies, such as LLC Monald capital shares worth EUR 1 467 186.
Bunkus was shot dead in his car in the morning on the 30th of May 2018 when he was driving through Riga Forest Cemetery. Shortly after the murder, a car bearing fake registration plates was found burned down not far from the crime scene.
In the criminal case, Uļmans and Babenko are accused of ordering a hit. The former is also accused of supporting murder. Krivoshei is also accused of directly committing a murder. He has also been charged with carrying and transporting firearms and ammunition without proper permission and with disclosing information obtained in pre-trial criminal proceedings without the permission of an investigator or prosecutor.
One suspect was relieved of criminal liability because no evidence was found to prove his involvement. This person is 1970-born Arkādijs Judins.
In the pre-trial criminal proceedings, the circumstances of the crimes and the persons involved were determined, including the individual roles of the people involved in the crime. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the motive for the crime committed by the accused was dislike for the administrator in the performance of his professional duties. Bunkus was the administrator of LLC “Rego Trade” and Uļmans was a former member of the board of this company.