The Šiauliai Regional Prosecutor’s Office has referred two criminal cases to the Šiauliai Regional Court for trial, together with indictments. Tomas Martinaitis and Saulius Bucevičius, former members of the Akmenė District Municipal Council and current members of the Lithuanian Parliament, are charged with abuse of office, embezzlement, forgery of documents and use of forged documents.
The pre-trial investigations were led by the Chief Prosecutor of the Organised Crime and Corruption Investigation Division of the Šiauliai Regional Prosecutor’s Office and conducted by officers of the Special Investigation Service (STT).
According to the pre-trial investigations, while serving as members of the Akmenė District Municipal Council between 2019 and 2023, T. Martinaitis and S. Bucevičius allegedly abused their official positions by submitting expense reports containing inaccurate information concerning some of their fuel expenses. These expenses were allegedly related to personal expenditure rather than costs incurred in the performance of their duties as municipal council members.
In the case of T. Martinaitis, the pre-trial investigation identified 50 instances in which he included purchases of diesel and petrol made using payment cards belonging to other individuals or companies in his expense reports. In the case of S. Bucevičius, 15 similar instances involving purchases of diesel were identified.
In this way, T. Martinaitis, allegedly abusing his official position as a council member, falsifying genuine documents and using them, misappropriated EUR 1,996 belonging to the Akmenė District Municipality Administration. S. Bucevičius allegedly misappropriated EUR 818.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, through these actions, the former members of the Akmenė District Municipal Council not only caused financial damage to the municipality but also significantly undermined the reputation of the public service and public trust in the public sector.
In accordance with the presumption of innocence, a person is considered innocent until proven guilty in accordance with the procedure established by law and convicted by a final court judgment.
