MP Adamovics loses his lawmaker's mandate after sentence for fraud takes effect

RIGA - As a sentence for fraud and forgery has come into force, MP Aldis Adamovics (New Unity) has lost his mandate, the Latvian public television reported on Monday.

The lawmaker has been convicted for unlawfully receiving transport and housing compensations.

The Riga City Vidzeme District Court in August 2021 slapped a EUR 6,000 fine on Adamovics. The court also banned Adamovics from holding the post of MP for a year and a month.

Adamovics appealed the court's decision, but the next instance court upheld the sentence.

In 2020, the Corruption Prevention Bureau (KNAB) asked the Prosecutor General's Office to charge Adamovics with fraud, abuse of authority and forgery.

Upon assessing materials in Adamovics' case, prosecutor Ando Skalbe charged Adamovics with fraud and forgery of official documents.

The criminal probe against Adamovics was launched in relation with compensations that are paid to MPs for their transport and accommodation expenses. KNAB accused the MP of unlawfully pocketing EUR 83 in transport compensation and EUR 3,150 in seven-month rent compensation.

Adamovics' lawyer Ieva Garanca said earlier that her client had already paid the transport compensation back into the budget, admitting his mistake in one of the episodes. In relation to the rent compensations, the lawyer said it was a matter of interpretation of the regulations as the law does not state how much time the lawmaker should spend in an apartment on which the rent compensation is paid.