Lithuania’s financial crimes service opens pretrial investigation into Vilnius City Housing

Lithuania’s Financial Crime Investigation Service has opened a pretrial investigation into Vilnius City Housing, a municipal company, after receiving information about its activities.

The investigation is being conducted under the direction of the Vilnius Regional Prosecutor’s Office. FNTT spokeswoman Modesta Zdanauskaitė said authorities were examining possible fraudulent accounting, the submission of incorrect information about income, profit or assets, document forgery or the use of forged documents, and fraud. She said no further details could be disclosed at this stage.

Social Democratic members of the Vilnius City Council, who sit in opposition, had previously asked FNTT and the Special Investigation Service to assess publicly reported information about possible irregularities at the company and to open pretrial investigations.

The requests followed an investigation published by Laisvės TV. It alleged that Vilnius City Housing may have conducted public procurement in a non-transparent manner and that some repairs to social housing units may have been carried out poorly. The investigation also raised questions about cost estimates for work performed by Glaskek LT and possible gifts from the company to Vilnius City Housing employees.

After the broadcast, Vilnius City Housing began an internal review. The Vilnius City Council also decided to commission an independent audit covering the company’s activities from the beginning of 2023 through the end of June this year.

Company director Rosita Žibelienė told the Elta news agency that the information published by Laisvės TV was being taken seriously, but said the broadcast could not be considered a comprehensive investigation. Glaskek LT categorically rejected claims that it had carried out work in a non-transparent or poor-quality manner.

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FNTT, under the direction of the Vilnius Regional Prosecutor’s Office, has begun a pretrial investigation related to information received about the activities of the municipal company Vilnius City Housing.