Law enforcement from Mongolia, Russia and Spain have requested assistance from KNAB last year in their investigations

RIGA - Last year, the Corruption Prevention Bureau (KNAB) received requests for legal assistance from foreign law enforcement in Mongolia, Russia, Spain and other countries, according to KNAB information.

Last year, 34 requests for foreign legal assistance were received from Mongolia, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Russia, Greece, Poland, Spain, Germany, Estonia,

Liechtenstein, Moldova and Romania.

On Tuesday, KNAB chief Jekabs Straume explained to the Defense, Home Affairs and Corruption Prevention Committee that a large number of legal assistance requests are related to money laundering. When executing legal assistance requests, the KNAB often finds out that Latvian nationals have also entered into corrupt relations, thus there is a reason to start an investigation in Latvia as well.

In 2020, the KNAB also prepared 28 legal assistance requests for law enforcement colleagues abroad. Most legal assistance request were sent to EU countries last year.