Seven Akmenė council members suspected over expense claims

Seven members of the Akmenė district municipal council have been formally suspected in investigations into alleged misuse of expense reimbursements, prosecutors and the Special Investigation Service (STT) said, LRT reported.

Authorities allege that the councillors submitted advance expense reports containing potentially inaccurate information about fuel costs incurred while serving on the council. The alleged financial damage to the municipal administration ranges from €963 to €10,333.

Gedas Adomaitis is suspected of causing €2,539 in damage, Judita Puzonienė €10,333, Vitalija Žakienė €3,197, Judita Žilienė €2,926, Saulius Momkauskas €5,335, Vladislovas Balkauskas €963 and Richardas Sudaris €2,913, according to the authorities.

The alleged conduct took place between 2019 and 2023, except in Žakienė’s case, which covers 2019 to 2022. All seven have been suspected of misappropriation of property, abuse of office, document forgery or handling forged documents.

The cases are part of investigations into alleged misuse of local politicians’ expense reimbursements. ELTA said the scrutiny followed the “Skaidrinam” investigation initiated by public figure Andrius Tapinas.