Aluksne mayor rejects EU funding fraud allegations

Aluksne municipality’s work has fully resumed after investigative actions this week in a case involving suspected fraud with European Union funds, LSM reported. Mayor Dzintars Adlers and several municipal employees have been granted the right to a defence in the criminal case, but none has been detained.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating suspected fraud in procurement. It says municipal officials may have worked with representatives of a company operating in Aluksne to obtain 1.4 million euros from the European Regional Development Fund. Evidence gathered by prosecutors suggests that production facilities may have been built for entrepreneurs chosen in advance, rather than through an open and fair tender. The investigation is ongoing, and the office says it will not release further information for now.

Adlers, of New Unity, rejected the allegations in an interview with Latvian Radio. He said he and municipal specialists saw no violations in the project and argued that the authorities had not sufficiently understood the legal rules governing projects carried out by municipalities.

Adlers also stressed that prosecutors had referred to possible violations, not proven ones.