Court orders Birutė Vėsaitė to repay nearly €4,870

A Panevėžys district court has fully upheld a prosecutor’s claim against Social Democrat and MP Birutė Vėsaitė over unjust enrichment in a reimbursement case, LRT reported, citing the news agency ELTA.

The court issued a default judgment on Tuesday. The prosecutor had asked it to order Vėsaitė, a former member of the Lazdijai district municipal council, to pay nearly €4,870 to the municipality.

The Kaunas Regional Prosecutor’s Office filed the civil claim in August after reviewing documents Vėsaitė submitted to claim compensation for council-related expenses. The investigation found that she had received €5,221 in fuel reimbursements for 3,179 litres of fuel.

Of that fuel, 2,627 litres, costing €4,335, were bought outside Lazdijai district in 58 transactions. Those purchases accounted for 76% of all refuelling instances, according to the prosecution. Vėsaitė was also reimbursed €74 for fuel during the quarantine period.

Vėsaitė served as an MP from 2000 to 2016 and was economy minister from 2012 to 2013. She joined the Lazdijai district municipal council in 2021, replacing fellow Social Democrat Justas Pankauskas. Pankauskas, who left the council because his roles were incompatible, was later convicted at first instance in a separate criminal case related to expense claims. Vėsaitė returned to parliament after the 2024 election.