Supreme Court overturns Bondars couple’s convictions and orders retrial

Latvia’s Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of former parliament member and Latvijas Krājbanka head Mārtiņš Bondars and his wife, Ieva Bondare, and sent their case back for a new hearing, LSM reported. The Riga Regional Court had fined each of them 22,200 euros for document forgery.

Prosecutors alleged that after a claim was upheld in a civil case, the couple agreed with a sworn notary to draw up a backdated marital property division agreement. A court of first instance acquitted them, but the Riga Regional Court later found them guilty.

The Supreme Court said the regional court had not adequately assessed who legally owned the disputed property before the agreement was made. Under the law, property acquired by one spouse without payment during marriage is that spouse’s separate property. The court said this is not changed by the other spouse’s contributions to the property or by its disclosure in an official’s declaration.

The Supreme Court also said the status of a plot of land acquired later should have been assessed separately, as this could affect whether a creditor suffered harm. The court added that document forgery may be legally significant not only when it is used to obtain new rights. On retrial, the court must also consider whether the agreement, used to make entries in public registers, helped establish rights or avoid obligations.

The criminal case concerns allegations that Bondars, his wife and the now-deceased sworn notary Līga Eglīte acted together for financial gain to forge and use a document, causing substantial harm to the legally protected interests of the liquidated Latvijas Krājbanka. Prosecutors linked the case to an agreement between Bondars and his wife intended to prevent the family home from being seized in proceedings over losses caused to the bank, which Bondars once led.