KNAB ends massive army’s food supply procurement criminal case

After about one and a half years of investigation, Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) has closed criminal proceedings for alleged illegalities in the massive procurement of army food supplies, as LETA was told by KNAB.

The KNAB verified with criminal procedural methods whether corrupt criminal offences were implemented in the complex and large-scale procurement of food supply carried out by the State Defence Logistics and Procurement Centre (VALIC). KNAB concluded in their investigation that due to the lack of experience of the members of this procurement commission and insufficient supervision of the responsible institutions, a number of disciplinary violations have been committed, but they are not related to corruption, for which criminal liability should be applied.

Initial information indicated the possibility that four persons – two members of the procurement commission, a representative of the company and an adviser to the former Minister of Defence – may have committed criminal offences in order to achieve the victory of a particular company in the procurement for the supply of food for the needs of the National Armed Forces (NBS).

In order to verify the information, on the 3rd of March, 2023, the KNAB initiated criminal proceedings for the possible abuse of office for a greedy purpose, the disclosure of false information about property or other income on a large scale in the declaration and the disclosure of undisclosed information that is not an official secret.

During the investigation, the KNAB carried out extensive criminal procedural activities, including court-sanctioned searches, interrogation of persons, seizure of documents, analysis of the information obtained and other activities. The information obtained indicated that the procurement regulations set unreasonably low criteria for the qualification of tenderers, as well as the procurement commission has changed the procurement regulations and technical specifications several times, thus creating a reasonable suspicion that the adjustments may have been made in the interests of a particular company.

The information obtained also showed that the procurement commission had underestimated the compliance of the tenderers and the technical specification with the purpose of the procurement.

The evidence obtained by KNAB confirms that there are signs of disciplinary violations in the actions of persons who have already been assessed by the Ministry of Defence according to their competence. In the opinion of KNAB, these violations could be related to the lack of experience of procurement commission members in the implementation of such a complex and voluminous procurement, as well as with incomplete monitoring from the Ministry of Defence and insufficient provision of information on the procurement process and planned costs to VALIC.

Assessing the information obtained during the investigation, no confirmation was obtained that the persons involved in the criminal proceedings have committed corrupt criminal offences. Similarly, the evidence obtained does not confirm that the persons were influenced, interested in recognizing a particular tenderer as the winner of the procurement, or performed actions that would provide advantages or limit the possibilities of tenderers to be recognized as the winner.

At the same time, KNAB points out that the procurement contract amount was not paid out and no financial losses were caused to the state. Thus, this week, KNAB adopted a decision to terminate criminal proceedings for the possible abuse of official position for a greedy purpose and the disclosure of undisclosed information that is not an official secret.

The KNAB pre-trial investigation found that the former advisor to the Minister of Defence may have indicated false information in the annual declaration of the state official, that is, he had not declared the purchase of the car.

Thus, on the 31st of January, 2024, KNAB asked the Prosecutor General’s Office to initiate criminal prosecution against a public servant for indicating false information in his or her income declaration related to the property or other large amount of income. The information at the disposal of the KNAB shows that this person has reached an agreement with the prosecutor on the admission of guilt and punishment. The former adviser to the Minister of Defence paid a fine of EUR 3 500.

LETA previously reported that this person was Aivars Tiesnesis, advisor to the former Minister of Defence Arts Pabriks. He has since passed away.

During the investigation, the KNAB forwarded the information obtained to the Procurement Monitoring Bureau (IUB) according to institutional jurisdiction with a request to assess whether administrative violations were committed in the procurement.

According to information from KNAB, IUB has decided to take administrative action against six persons.

KNAB also reminded that in order to improve the public procurement environment, reduce the risks of corruption and strengthen the inevitability of punishment in professional crimes, the Prosecutor General’s Office, with the support of the KNAB, urged to establish criminal liability for actions implemented in the interests of a particular tenderer in the regulatory framework.