Court closes Prienai mayor’s expense case as STT probes daughter

Alytaus District Court has finished hearing the criminal case against Prienai Mayor Alvydas Vaicekauskas over the alleged misuse of municipal funds, LRT reports. Prosecutors have asked for him to be found guilty, while the mayor has called for an acquittal.

“Throughout my working life, I have tried to work honestly. I simply want to ask for a fair decision and to be acquitted,” Vaicekauskas said in his final statement.

Judge Inga Liubinienė said the verdict would be announced on September 28, citing the amount of documentation to be assessed and the court’s workload in other cases.

Vaicekauskas’s lawyer, Audrius Pėstininkas, asked the court to acquit his client. He compared the case with expense cases involving other politicians, including a recently finalised case against former Marijampolė Mayor Povilas Isoda.

The lawyer said the cases differed in the number of payment cards and the types of expenses involved. He argued that Vaicekauskas had explained the circumstances before the proceedings and that witnesses had confirmed his account.

Investigations into so-called expense receipt cases began after public figure Andrius Tapinas launched the “Skaidrinam” investigation into the use of municipal funds by local politicians. According to that investigation, Vaicekauskas used nearly 14,000 euros from the Prienai District Municipality budget during the 2019 to 2023 term, paying for fuel with seven different cards.

A similar practice was allegedly used by his daughter, Social Democratic politician Simona Vaicekauskaitė-Šalčė, who not only bought fuel with municipal funds but may also have used smart television services. The Special Investigation Service, or STT, said in early August that suspicions had also been brought against her.

According to the STT, Vaicekauskaitė-Šalčė may have caused more than 3,000 euros in damage to the municipality while serving as a member of the Prienai District Municipal Council. She now works as an adviser to Birštonas Mayor Nijolė Dirginčienė.

“I would not want to comment much. They are independent people and the situations are different,” Vaicekauskas told ELTA when asked about his daughter’s case.

He said he would not run for mayor again, regardless of the court’s decision. Vaicekauskas, who turned 69 in June, has led Prienai for four terms.