Officials probe possible forgery of Nemuno aušra board records

Officials are investigating whether the Nemuno aušra political party falsified minutes from a board meeting approving the rental of two politicians’ cars, LRT reports. The Financial Crime Investigation Service on Tuesday searched the homes of five party board members and visited party leader Remigijus Žemaitaitis’s office in Kelmė.

The documents under scrutiny record a decision to rent Žemaitaitis’s Land Rover Range Rover Sport and deputy leader Daiva Petkevičienė’s Land Rover Defender to the party, according to LRT sources.

Searches were carried out at the homes of Robertas Puchovičius, Daiva Žebelienė, Lina Šukytė-Korsakė, Kęstutis Bilius and Tadas Sadauskis. Officials also visited Žemaitaitis’s office in Kelmė.

The board meeting in question took place on January 15, 2024, and was attended by seven board members. They were Žemaitaitis, Petkevičienė, Puchovičius, Žebelienė, Šukytė-Korsakė, Bilius and Sadauskis.

After the searches, Puchovičius told LRT that the meeting had taken place and that the decisions had been adopted.

“I did not prepare the documents. There were people responsible for that. If they were drawn up, everything was in order,” he said, adding that the party had held many board meetings while it was being established and that the relevant documents had been prepared by those responsible.

Puchovičius said officials took his phone and computer and reviewed the documents he had, but he did not have party documents at home. He said he had handed over all election-related material stored on his computer.

He said no personal allegations had been made against him and that he had cooperated with the officials. Puchovičius described the early morning search as unpleasant because it woke his children, but said the officers had acted properly and had taken only what they needed.

FNTT officials also searched Žemaitaitis and Petkevičienė’s offices at the Seimas and the Nemuno aušra headquarters in May this year.

Žemaitaitis rented his car to Nemuno aušra from January 17 to November 13, 2024, for a monthly fee of 3,176.47 euros. Petkevičienė rented her Land Rover Defender to the party from March 12 to November 13, 2024, for 2,235.29 euros a month.