Ethics commission declines probe into Matjošaitytė and tax chief’s alleged ties

Lithuania’s Chief Official Ethics Commission will not investigate whether election commission member Laura Matjošaitytė and State Tax Inspectorate head Martynas Endrijaitis failed to declare private interests, LRT reported Wednesday.

The commission said it had reviewed additional information gathered after claims about a possible relationship between the two became public.

Communications specialist Karolis Žukauskas asked the commission to examine the matter. He wrote on Facebook that Matjošaitytė and Endrijaitis were a couple and lived together, but had not declared their relationship. In early October, the commission decided to collect more information before determining whether to open an investigation.

According to the news portal Delfi, Endrijaitis denied the claims. The State Tax Inspectorate said he knew Matjošaitytė as a public figure and had encountered her occasionally while carrying out official duties or at official events. The institution said his private interests declaration contained no errors.

Under the law on the reconciliation of public and private interests, people required to file declarations must provide information about a spouse, cohabiting partner or partner when the conditions set out in the law apply.

Endrijaitis took up his post as head of the State Tax Inspectorate in July. Matjošaitytė, a lawyer, is a member of the Central Electoral Commission and the Lithuanian National Radio and Television Council.