Court drops case against former Ignalina councillor over fuel receipts

Lithuania’s Court of Appeal has dismissed the case against former Ignalina District Municipal Council member Alfonsas Gasparavičius and released the 81-year-old under the surety of a farmer, LRT reported.

A three-judge panel accepted the defence’s arguments that abuse of office is now classified as a crime of medium severity rather than a serious crime, and that Gasparavičius had fully confessed and repaid three times the damage amount cited in the indictment. The court also considered that he had testified and provided information that helped establish the truth.

“The judgment is quashed and the case is dismissed because all the conditions for release on surety are met,” Judge Virginija Liudvinavičienė announced.

The Court of Appeal’s ruling has taken effect.

In November last year, the Panevėžys Regional Court found Gasparavičius guilty of abuse of office, document forgery, the use of forged documents and fraud. It fined him EUR 5,000 for fraudulently obtaining nearly EUR 6,000 from the municipality for his own benefit by falsifying documents. He was also barred for three years from holding appointed or elected positions in state or municipal institutions.

According to the case file, Gasparavičius falsified council member expense reports between 2019 and 2023 by reporting fuel costs that had not actually been incurred in connection with his council duties.

Gasparavičius said he had used an old car to perform his duties and had paid acquaintances and party colleagues in cash for rides. He said he became involved in the falsification scheme at the initiative of a party colleague to obtain compensation for transport expenses.

Receipts were collected at petrol stations that had actually belonged to other customers. The payments were made using 96 different bank cards. Two employees of one Ignalina petrol station falsified the receipts by entering Gasparavičius’s personal details into the station’s computer system. In total, 117 named documents were falsified in this way.

Gasparavičius repeatedly submitted the documents to the municipal accounts department to claim compensation, despite not having incurred the fuel expenses.

The Panevėžys Regional Court previously said his actions had continued for a long period and involved the use of his official position, meaning they could not be considered a minor act or merely an ethics violation.

Gasparavičius served as a Member of the European Parliament assistant to Viktoras Uspaskich from 2010 to 2014 and worked as administrator of the Labour Party’s Ignalina branch.

The case followed the “Skaidrinam” investigation launched by public figure Andrius Tapinas into the use of funds by local politicians, which triggered a scandal over possible misuse of office expenses and brought numerous municipalities under scrutiny by law enforcement.