Court orders MP to repay funds in council expenses case

A court has ruled that Lithuanian MP Antanas Nedzinskas was unjustly enriched through expenses claimed while he served on the Trakai district council and must return part of the money sought, LRT reported Monday.

The Trakai Chamber of the Vilnius Regional Court partially upheld a prosecutor’s civil claim. Prosecutors sought €5,105.44, plus 5% annual interest and legal costs, but the court awarded a smaller amount. The ruling is not final and can be appealed.

The claim concerns funds Nedzinskas received for council activities between December 17, 2020, and April 14, 2023. Prosecutors say he submitted receipts for fuel paid for with other people’s payment cards.

More than €2,000 was cited in a pre-trial investigation into the fuel receipts. Prosecutors said documents showed the fuel had been paid for with seven different cards, and that the civil claim also covered this sum.

The pre-trial investigation was discontinued on November 25, 2025, because the Seimas had not consented to Nedzinskas being prosecuted. Parliament had declined to lift his legal immunity the previous November. Nedzinskas said at the time that he did not consider himself guilty and argued that Trakai district council had no rule requiring named receipts for expenses.

The civil case followed an investigation into local politicians’ use of expense reimbursements launched by public figure Andrius Tapinas under the name Skaidrinam.