Stabina missing, leaves behind letter

RIGA - Former Riga City Council Housing and Environment Department official Arija Stabina has gone missing, reports TV3 broadcast ‘Neka personiga’ (‘Nothing Personal’). On June 17, the Corruption Prevention Bureau was to urge the court to revise the security measure previously set and order for Stabina to be held in custody, ‘Neka personiga’ said.
However, Stabina was one step ahead of the law, and left a farewell letter before disappearing, as her location remains unknown.

She was detained on suspicion of bribe taking in September 2012. She spent two months in custody and resigned after her release. On May 31, the Prosecutor General Office’s Serious Crime Department prosecutor brought criminal charges against her. According to ‘Neka personiga,’ a few days later, Stabina’s children received a letter from their mother, informing them about her intentions of leaving Latvia and never coming back.

A criminal case was opened in September 2012. Fourteen searches were conducted and seven persons were detained, including Stabina and two employees.

The Corruption Prevention Bureau believes that the Riga City Council officials, via go-betweens, were for a long time accepting bribes from residents who wanted to receive municipal apartments in Riga.