Alytus mayor’s adviser was convicted over company fraud

Alytus Mayor Nerijus Cesiulis’s adviser, Saulius Ivoška, was convicted of financial crimes in 2014 and faced court proceedings over allegedly fictitious jobs before joining the mayor’s team, according to a joint investigation by Siena, radio station FM99 and Alytus News.

The investigation also found that Ivoška developed a fish-farming business at a milk collection point. Last week, Siena and FM99 reported that he had increased his wealth by about 230,000 euros in one year after his pension-age parents gave him four plots of land, two residential houses and a farm building. Experts have raised serious doubts about the building’s actual purpose.

Alytus News contacted Ivoška for comment. He ended the conversation after being asked whether he had informed the mayor about his conviction.

The Information and Communications Department, which is subordinate to the Interior Ministry, confirmed that Ivoška had been convicted of financial crimes. The department said the Vilnius Regional Court found him guilty in a ruling issued on February 14, 2014, which became final on March 7 of that year.

The final sentence was two years of restriction of liberty. Ivoška was also ordered to compensate for material damage, complete 80 hours of unpaid work at healthcare, care and welfare institutions or non-governmental organisations assisting people with disabilities, older people or others in need of help, and not change his place of residence without notifying the institution enforcing the sentence.

Siena obtained the court ruling, which shows that Ivoška was convicted of misappropriating assets belonging to his company, Servisgama, which he owned and managed. The company operated in the collection of construction and other waste, the same sector as the related companies Ekotyra and Vent Deux examined in the earlier investigation.

The court found that between 2007 and 2008, Ivoška instructed a company manager to falsify 22 invoices and 22 work acceptance and transfer documents for a total of 57,870 litas, equivalent to nearly 17,000 euros. The invoices purported to cover transport services that had not actually been provided. According to the ruling, Ivoška then received the money in his account and withdrew it in cash.