Raimondas Baranauskas hiding in Moscow, denies guilt

Raimondas Baranauskas, a former shareholder of the collapsed Snoras bank convicted of embezzling assets worth hundreds of millions of euros, is hiding in Moscow and refuses to admit guilt, reports news portal Delfi.

According to Delfi, which cited partners in Russia, Baranauskas is living in a 17-storey apartment building in western Moscow, about eight kilometres from the city centre. The portal managed to contact his wife, Sigita Baranauskienė, by phone. She claimed they were living in modest conditions, renting an apartment and owning no car.

Baranauskienė stated that her husband would never admit guilt because he had committed no crime. “His (Vladimir Antonov’s) confession does not concern us. No matter how we live here, we will never confess because there simply is nothing to confess to,” she told Delfi.

The Lithuanian Court of Appeals this week began a full re-examination of the criminal case against Baranauskas and another former Snoras shareholder, Vladimir Antonov. Last November, the Vilnius Regional Court sentenced both to 10.5 years in prison in absentia for eight intentional crimes, including large-scale embezzlement.

Baranauskas’ lawyer, Asta Pūkienė, has said she has no contact with her client and that the evidence in the case is insufficient to prove his guilt. Antonov, deemed the main organiser of the crimes, was extradited from France in May and admitted his guilt on Tuesday, asking the court to allow him to begin serving his sentence.

Both men were ordered to pay 375.18 million euros in damages, with 105 million euros worth of their illegally acquired assets subject to confiscation. European arrest warrants were issued for both. Prosecutors allege that Baranauskas and Antonov misappropriated assets worth 509.18 million euros, causing 466.67 million euros in damages to Snoras and its creditors, while embezzling an additional 14.5 million euros.