Prosecutors seek nearly 44,000 euros from six council members

LRT reports that prosecutors have filed civil claims seeking the recovery of nearly 44,000 euros in potentially unjustified payments from six members of the Palanga, Klaipėda district and Rokiškis district municipal councils.

Prosecutors from the Public Interest Defence Divisions of regional prosecutor’s offices are seeking to have the money returned to the respective municipal budgets.

A prosecutor from the Klaipėda Regional Prosecutor’s Office has asked Vilnius City District Court to order former Klaipėda District Municipal Council member Rasa Petrauskienė to pay 1,685 euros to the Klaipėda district municipality for unjust enrichment.

According to the investigation, Petrauskienė received 2,940 euros from the municipal budget during the 2019 to 2023 term to cover transport expenses related to her council duties. She bought fuel not only in the Klaipėda district municipality but also in Vilnius, Kaunas, Šilalė, Trakai and Raseiniai.

The investigation also found that she included nine non-reimbursable comprehensive car insurance payments, totalling 520 euros, in her expense reports.

In a separate claim, a prosecutor has asked the Klaipėda District Court to order Palanga City Municipal Council member Svetlana Tučė to pay 6,665 euros to the Palanga municipality.

Tučė received 12,082 euros during the 2019 to 2023 term to cover fuel, stationery, vehicle repairs and operating costs. Of that amount, 8,979 euros was paid for fuel.

Prosecutors said an assessment of the vehicle’s average fuel consumption indicated that the declared fuel use would correspond to approximately 62,000 kilometres driven during the term, or nearly 1,300 kilometres per month on average.

The claim states that this amount of fuel did not match the actual needs of council work, taking into account the size of Palanga’s municipal territory, the 29 in-person council meetings held during the term and the fact that other meetings took place remotely. Most of the fuel was also purchased outside Palanga, while fuel receipts were submitted for reimbursement during the quarantine period.

As a result, 6,525 euros in fuel compensation was deemed unjustified. The investigation also found that Tučė improperly received 139 euros in compensation for car insurance near the end of her term because the insurance had already been paid for another vehicle she had identified as being in use, and most of the insurance period fell after her term had ended.

Another claim filed by the Klaipėda Regional Prosecutor’s Office asks the Klaipėda District Court to order Palanga City Municipal Council member Saulius Simė to pay 9,119 euros to the Palanga municipality.

According to the investigation, Simė received 16,040 euros during the 2019 to 2023 term to cover expenses related to his council duties, including communications services, stationery, computer equipment rental, vehicle repairs, maintenance and fuel. The investigation found that compensation had been paid for 7,913 litres of fuel.