Court orders Mantas Leliukas to repay Panevėžys EUR 6,500

The Panevėžys District Court on Friday ruled that city council member Mantas Leliukas had been unjustly enriched at the expense of the Panevėžys city municipality and ordered him to repay more than EUR 6,500, LRT reports.

According to the case documents, Leliukas received compensation for transport expenses between 2019 and 2023 without following the established procedures. He did not provide the required documents supporting the transport expenses, while the non-personalised fuel receipts he submitted were deemed unsuitable for establishing whether the expenses were justified and properly documented.

The investigation also found that Leliukas submitted 12 different bank cards when accounting to the municipality for fuel costs, although only one of the cards belonged to him.

After examining documents related to fuel, vehicle rental and communications rental expenses, as well as the explanations provided, the court concluded that more than EUR 6,500 had been reimbursed to Leliukas without justification. He failed to prove that the expenses had been used exclusively for his council activities.

Judge Ingrida Kirsnytė said the court had concluded that Leliukas had been unjustly enriched at the municipality’s expense and without legal grounds. The court therefore upheld the prosecutor’s claim and ordered the funds to be awarded to the Panevėžys city municipal administration.

In addition to EUR 6,500, Leliukas was ordered to pay annual interest of 5 percent on the awarded amount from the date the case was filed until the judgment is fully enforced, as well as approximately EUR 160 in legal costs.

The decision may be appealed to a higher court.