Court Lifts Travel Restriction on Defendant Tried With Rally Driver Benediktas Vanagas

A Vilnius court has lifted the written undertaking not to leave Lithuania imposed on Goda Mankutė, who is being tried alongside rally driver Benediktas Vanagas in a credit-fraud case. The restriction had been imposed in June 2024, and the court’s decision can still be appealed.

The case also names the public institution National Automobile Club and Gerdista executive G. Mankutė. According to the case file, Mankutė applied in August 2020 for support for a mobile vehicle-service project in rural areas. Gerdista signed a support agreement with Lithuania’s National Paying Agency in October 2021 for €199,500.

The company ultimately received €154,613. Of that amount, €131,400 came from European Union funds and the remainder from Lithuania’s state budget. The project was financed through Lithuania’s 2014-2020 Rural Development Programme.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office said last August that it had sent the case to court over a project worth more than €150,000. Prosecutors allege that although the project was presented as a way to establish mobile vehicle services, the defendants used equipment, including high-value vehicles and other specialized machinery, for personal purposes. They specifically linked the alleged use to Vanagas’ participation in car races, including the Dakar Rally.

During the trial, Vanagas wrote on Facebook that neither he nor the National Automobile Club had submitted applications or received European support. Vanagas, 48, is one of the best-known drivers in the Baltic states and most often competes in the Dakar Rally.