Prosecutors do not comment to BNS on when the investigation will be completed.
“The investigation is ongoing. For this reason and to avoid compromising the procedures and their outcome, we cannot comment further at this stage,” said Paula Telvo Alves, a representative of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, in a comment to BNS.
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As BNS reported, the court made a decision on the preventive measure for Š. Stepukonis – extending the detention period from September 1 to December 1 – on August 28, after considering the statement of the European delegated prosecutor of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The Financial Crime Investigation Service (FNTT) did not comment to BNS last week on whether the pre-trial investigation into Š. Stepukonis’s actions and the damage caused has been finally completed and whether an indictment has been drawn up. At the end of June, the service informed BNS that after completing the final actions, the final evidence was collected and submitted, and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office still has to decide on the closure of the case and draw up the indictment.
BNS reported that Š. Stepukonis is suspected of embezzling more than 42 million euros from companies of the “BaltCap” infrastructure fund. He lost the majority of this money in online gambling.
The prosecutor of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office coordinating the pre-trial investigation, Darius Karčinskas, said last March that besides embezzling more than 42 million euros from the fund’s companies, Š. Stepukonis committed other crimes, so “the criminal case was supplemented with a number of articles of the Criminal Code.”
According to the prosecutor, in the investigation, charges of illegal activity in Lithuania were also brought against the Estonian company “OB Holding 1” – where Š. Stepukonis lost the largest part – about 31 million euros.
Š. Stepukonis lost another 5 million euros in the Lithuanian company “Olympic Casino Group Baltija,” and unsuccessfully invested about 6 million euros in the Hungarian financial brokerage company “Interactive Brokers Central Europe” (now “Interactive Brokers Ireland” in Ireland).
According to D. Karčinskas, almost all necessary information was collected during the investigation from officials in Estonia, Germany, Luxembourg, and Hungary.
According to the prosecutor, Š. Stepukonis is suspected of fraudulent accounting in companies from which funds were possibly illegally embezzled, as well as providing false information about income and assets to avoid taxes, misleading the State Tax Inspectorate.
The investigation is also ongoing regarding the transfer of 3.9 million euros to his account from the “BaltCap” fund’s Polish company “EN Efficiency” for an alleged sale of shares.
Currently, several cases related to Š. Stepukonis’s gambling are being examined in courts.
The court of first instance decided in June that the gambling company “Olympic Casino Group Baltija” did not ensure responsible gambling with regard to Š. Stepukonis. The Regional Administrative Court dismissed the company’s complaint against the Gambling Supervisory Authority’s decision from last February and the compensation of 6.4 million euros in damages.
This court is also examining another complaint by “Olympic Casino Group Baltija” regarding the nearly 8.4 million euros fine imposed by the authority for Š. Stepukonis’s gambling from 2016 to 2021. The fine was imposed on the company for violations related to money laundering and terrorism financing prevention and violations of the Gambling Law. A total of five violations were identified.
After the Supreme Court of Lithuania (LAT) announced last year that the claim of “BaltCap” companies against Ireland’s “Interactive Brokers Ireland” for 5 million euros in damages could be heard in Lithuania, the Vilnius District Court opened the case in May this year.
Additionally, “Olympic Casino Group Baltija” and its shareholder Estonian “OB Holding 1,” which controls the “Olybet” group, sought to recover nearly 95 thousand euros in compensation and 414 euros for each day of asset seizure from “BaltCap” in Estonian courts, reported “Verslo žinios.”
