Police want criminal charges pressed against former head of Latvijas Pasts postal company

RIGA - State Police is seeking the prosecution of Arnis Salnajs, a former head of Latvijas Pasts national postal company who once headed the office Latvia's then president Raimonds Vejonis, LETA learned. 

Salnajs, who is suspected of hiring fictitious employees, told LETA that he had thought that the case against him had long been closed and denied any wrongdoing on his part. 

The criminal probe against Salnajs, which was started in July 2016, has now been sent to the prosecutor's office of the Riga judicial district. One of the persons featuring in the case is accused of fraud, while a manager of a state-run enterprise is accused of aiding and abetting fraud and abusing office powers, LETA was told at the State Police. 

The investigation established that from March 2014 until April 2016 a manager of a state-run company allegedly helped a private individual to embezzle a large amount of money. 

The manager, born in 1976, created a job in the state-run company and hired an employee, a man born in 1957, who never performed the job but was paid a salary, bonuses and compensations for unused vacations. The total amount paid to the fictitious employee was EUR 81,354. 

According to information obtained by LETA, the manager of the state-run company in question is Salnajs who resigned as Latvijas Pasts CEO in April 2016. The rest of the Latvijas Pasts board also stood down along with the company's head. Salnajs had joined the postal company's board in January 2012.

Transport Minister Uldis Augulis said at the time that an inspection in the postal company had revealed arbitrariness and "a very high number of various irregularities", including some identified already earlier by the State Audit Office.

Augulis said earlier that the Transport Ministry had received reports about "various breaches and irregularities" in the postal company, including some concerning bonuses and business trips, and that it was therefore decided to conduct an inspection in the company.

Latvijas Pasts is fully owned by the Latvian state and its basic function is providing the universal postal service. The company is also involved in providing philately, transportation, express mail, financial, press and IT services, as well as retail trade.