Appeal court upholds Alytus councillor’s conviction in receipts case

The Lithuanian Court of Appeal has upheld the conviction of Alytus District Municipal Council member Danielius Jakubavičius in the receipts case, LRT reported. He will lose his council position as a result of the ruling.

The court amended part of a Kaunas Regional Court judgment issued in December last year, removing the finding that Jakubavičius had acquired another person’s property by abusing the trust of employees in the Alytus District Municipality accounting department. The rest of the first-instance judgment was left unchanged.

In December 2025, the Kaunas Regional Court found Jakubavičius guilty and fined him 10,000 euros. It also barred him for three years from being elected or appointed to elected or appointed positions in state or municipal institutions.

The Court of Appeal’s ruling takes effect immediately, meaning Jakubavičius will lose his seat on the Alytus District Council. The decision can be appealed to the Supreme Court of Lithuania under cassation procedure.

The first-instance court convicted Jakubavičius of abuse of office, document forgery or possession of a forged document, and fraud. The offences involved the alleged misappropriation of funds intended to cover council members’ work-related expenses. The court also upheld a civil claim and ordered him to pay 8,400 euros to the Alytus District Municipality.

According to the case file, Jakubavičius systematically forged documents between 2019 and 2023 to acquire 8,402 euros belonging to the Alytus District Municipal Administration. The money was used to buy fuel and equipment at petrol stations, while instalments for mobile phones purchased for his personal use were also included in expense reports.

Jakubavičius denied the charges, saying he was an active politician and therefore incurred significant expenses.

The case followed an investigation into the use of municipal funds by local politicians initiated by public figure Andrius Tapinas. The investigation, known as Skaidrinam, led to a wider scandal over possible abuse of office-related funds and brought numerous municipalities to the attention of law enforcement.