KNAB opens inquiry into possible residence permit abuses

Latvia’s Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) has opened an inquiry into possible illegalities in helping third-country nationals obtain residence permits, LSM reported.

KNAB said it had received submissions about the alleged irregularities and was working with other institutions to determine whether the publicly reported information was accurate and whether any potential offences fell within its remit.

Interior Minister Jānis Dombrava has instructed the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs and the Financial Intelligence Unit to examine, within their respective areas of responsibility, reports about Gerald Hopstedter, Doris Hopstedter and scientist Ķina Linde and their alleged involvement in helping dozens of third-country nationals obtain residence permits.

Dombrava wants the agencies to establish whether the individuals acted lawfully by supporting genuine business activity or misused the residence permit process to create a formal basis for people to stay in Latvia.

Social media posts have alleged that Linde may have been involved in selling shares in AS Lights to at least 11 foreign nationals for about 50,000 euros each. The posts questioned whether the investments were fictitious and made to qualify the buyers for Latvian temporary residence permits.

Company records cited in the report list Linde as co-owner and board chair of SIA Latvian Academy of Sciences Institute of Economics and board chair of Lights. Gerald Hopstedter is listed as chair of Lights’ supervisory board, with Doris Hopstedter as deputy chair.

Latvian Television reported this week that Linde had been involved in selling Latvian residence permits in exchange for a 50,000-euro investment in a luxury care home planned for Spuņciems that had not yet been established.