Murder plot trial puts Latvia bank system in focus

In 2018, he was fatally shot. Both accused parties refute any involvement.

Prosecutors claim that while Mr. Bunkus was closing another company, he discovered evidence linking the two individuals to money laundering. He then spoke with Latvian financial crime watchdogs about his worries.

After one failed attempt on his life in September 2016, Mr. Bunkus was shot and killed in May 2018 during rush hour with an assault weapon in broad daylight.

According to police sources, his assailants had hidden a Kalashnikov gun on a cargo trailer beneath a tent, which they towed behind a van. There were at least seven bullets fired into Mr. Bunkus’s vehicle.

Four years after the crime was committed, in May 2022, Mr. Ulmans and Mr. Babenko were taken into custody in connection with it. Since then, they have been under custody.

According to Mr. Babenko’s attorneys, his rights have been infringed by his prolonged detention.

According to the prosecution, promises of €200,000 to the murderer and €100,000 (£86,850) to the person who orchestrated Mr. Bunkus’s murder were made.

A third individual, a citizen of Russia, is on trial for allegedly killing the victim.

As is customary in Latvia, a judge will try the three men without a jury.

The trial ended on Saturday, with the defendants appearing in court via video link from prison on the opening day of the trial.

Mr. Ulmans owns a portion of LPB in addition to holding stakes in a number of other companies, such as duty-free stores and customs warehouses located in Russian airports.

The Latvian banking sector has been accused of money laundering on previous occasions.

The third-biggest bank in the nation, ABLV, entered voluntary insolvency in 2018 after being charged with numerous offenses, including violating sanctions, by the US Treasury.

LPB was fined €2.2 million (£1.9 million) in the same year for neglecting to address regulatory issues that dated back to 2016.

Since then, Latvia has enacted extensive steps to halt the influx of dirty money, primarily from Russia.

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