Lithuanian financial crime investigators search lawmakers’ offices and party headquarters

Lithuania’s Financial Crime Investigation Service (FNTT) is conducting searches in the offices of two lawmakers and the headquarters of the political party Nemuno Aušra, the Prosecutor General’s Office confirmed Thursday.

Investigators are examining the workplaces of MPs Remigijus Žemaitaitis and Daiva Petkevičienė, as well as the party’s Vilnius office, as part of a pre-trial probe into alleged fraud linked to the rental of their personal vehicles to the party. The searches, authorised by Vilnius Regional Prosecutor’s Office, may last several hours to half a day, according to the BNS news agency.

The investigation, launched in early March, centres on whether the lawmakers committed fraud under Article 182 of the Criminal Code by leasing their cars to Nemuno Aušra while continuing to use them personally. No formal suspicions have been announced at this stage.

Žemaitaitis was unreachable Thursday morning, with his phone switched off. Fellow party member Robertas Puchovičius told reporters in parliament that no search was underway in his own office, despite earlier media reports suggesting otherwise. “No one has told me anything, no one has shown me any warrants,” he said, adding that he last spoke to Žemaitaitis on Wednesday evening.

The probe follows a February ruling by Lithuania’s Central Electoral Commission, which found that Nemuno Aušra violated campaign finance rules by renting the lawmakers’ vehicles using party funds.