Judge says no doubt over Malinauskas and Kadziauskas guilt

The Lithuanian Court of Appeal has upheld corruption convictions against Druskininkai Mayor Ričardas Malinauskas and council member Aivaras Kadziauskas, with the presiding judge telling LRT that there had been no doubts about their guilt.

Judge Evaldas Gražys said the court relied on the evidence collected in the case and agreed that the Kaunas Regional Court had assessed it properly.

The appeal court rejected Malinauskas’s appeal, making the judgment final. He remains convicted of influence peddling and must pay a fine of EUR 60,000. An additional EUR 30,000 will also be collected from him.

Because the sentence was not changed, Malinauskas will be unable to continue serving as mayor. Lithuania’s Central Electoral Commission will revoke his mayoral powers under the Electoral Code.

Kadziauskas, who was Malinauskas’s former adviser and is now a member of the Druskininkai municipal council, was also convicted. His appeal was rejected, and he will lose his council seat. The Kaunas Regional Court had sentenced him to pay a fine of EUR 42,600.

According to Judge Gražys, Kadziauskas acted in Malinauskas’s interests and sought to influence proceedings concerning a house on Turistų Street in Druskininkai. The judge said intermediaries attempted to influence judges at the Vilnius Regional Court and later the Supreme Court.

The Special Investigation Service secretly recorded conversations involving the suspects. Gražys said the conversations discussed payments to judges and the possibility of influencing them.

Malinauskas denied the allegations during questioning at the Kaunas Regional Court. He said he had never negotiated with Kadziauskas or anyone else about paying money or bribing anyone, and that all payments had been made for legal services.

Gražys said the appeal court rejected that explanation, adding that the conversations showed how much money had been paid. The judge also said Malinauskas had confirmed that Kadziauskas acted only in his interests and on his instructions.

The case was linked to Vijūnėlė Manor, which was recognised as an illegal structure and demolished in autumn 2019. Malinauskas has said the manor was built for him, although its official owner was a businessman and friend from whom the mayor planned to buy the completed building.

Former lawyer Drąsutis Zagreckas helped law enforcement uncover the crimes and is now under state protection.