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Questions were raised by the need of “Rīgas satiksme” for such services in general, the process of finding consultants, and the remuneration and the amount of work done.
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Among the consultants were Riga councilors, employees of Ushakov’s office, young people of “S Harmonas”, journalists and even the chairman of the Riga Election Commission. “Rīgas satiksme” even needed those involved in criminal proceedings or scandals, such as Ivan Stalnoy, accused in the RNP case, and Uģis Broža, a former official of the Traffic Department.
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A vivid example of hiring one’s own is the former activist of the “Harmony” youth association “Restart.lv” Aleksejs Futs, who in the spring of 2019 worked in the Public Relations Department of the Riga City Council. In June-November 2018, Rīgas satiksme hired him to advise customer service center operators and audit their performance.
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In 2019, Futs “de facto” refused to disclose his remuneration in “Rīgas satiksme”, but described his duties as follows:
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“Well, there I work with counseling centers, where as they better talk to clients. (..) I came to the centers, yes, service centers, and there counseling. (..) Two or three times a month. (..) ) Well, what about 3-4 hours [katra konsultācija]. (..) They were like seminars. “
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At that time, “de facto” did not yet have complete information on the remuneration paid to consultants. However, it is now “de facto” known that Futs received 17.6 thousand euros or more than 2.9 thousand euros per month from “Rīgas satiksme” for a six-month contract. If you believe what Futa told you about the amount of work, you can easily calculate that he earned at least 240 euros per hour for his consultations.
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In its turn, the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau is still investigating the case regarding the Riga City Council foundation “Riga Tourism Development Bureau” (RTAB). In the opinion of the KNAB, its officials may have wasted the foundation’s financial resources in large amounts, for example, by concluding fictitious cooperation agreements and paying private expenses; forged and used forged documents; employed bogus employees, as well as illegally defrauded financial resources in large amounts.
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The State Audit Office also saw the possible fictitious employment of seven employees in its audit; according to its calculations, in the period from 2016 to 2018, a total of 340 thousand euros was paid to them.
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Two former Riga councilors who served on the RTAB board are suspected in this criminal proceeding: Vita Jermoloviča from “Honor to Serve Riga” and Maksims Tolstoy from “Harmony”. Several employees of the office were also connected with the former parties of the Riga City Council. The direction to which the KNAB also pays attention in this case is the RTAB agreements with the companies of the German consultant Luca Meier at a time when the party “Harmony” led by the then Mayor of Riga Ušakovs was attracted to their work with the Saeima election campaign.
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The total amount that Meier companies in different countries could have received from the Riga City Council foundation reaches up to 300,000 euros. The search also took place in the offices of a German consultant both in Berlin and in other countries. Meier still does not want to talk about the case – after the call, he stopped the phone call immediately after the “de facto” request to comment.
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It is known “de facto” that there is another branch in the RTAB case that partly overlaps with the RNP lift repair case currently being investigated by the State Police. Namely, the traces of possible money laundering under investigation in the elevator case are taken to foreign companies, which have a visible connection with other foreign consultants of the “S Harmonas” Saeima election campaign.
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