“When allegations were formally brought against Šarūnas Stepukonis, his whereabouts were unknown. A search was launched and he was detained on 10 February. His detention is due to expire on 24 February. After finding Stepukonis, the investigation is now focused in two directions: clarifying the circumstances and finding the embezzled assets and freezing them,” EU Prosecutor Darius Karčinskas told a press conference held at the Financial Crime Investigation Service (FNTT) on Monday.
“Over the past week alone, at least 15 searches have been carried out in both Lithuania and Estonia. (&) We will inform the public about key decisions,” he added.
Head of FNTT Rolandas Kiškis specified that a large amount of media and information from servers was seized during the searches.
“That information needs to be aligned and compared with the interviews of Stepukonis. It takes quite a time and human resource to do that. (&) Certainly more than a day,” he said.
Kiškis also noted that the FNTT was in close contact with Stepukonis himself after it over the pre-trial investigation.
“There were also public and non-public actions. (&) We consider the tactic a success 0 a peaceful, cooperative way of detaining him on the premises of the service,” he said.
Prosecutor Karčinskas also said it is clear now that Stepukonis may have lost more than EUR 20 million. The concrete sum is yet to be identified, after the analysis of data from gambling companies and bank account statements.
“The major share of the misappropriated money was definitely lost through gambling companies,” the European delegated prosecutor said.
Karčinskas explained that a decision to extend Stepukonis’ detention would be taken this week, after assessing the available material. He also said that the BaltCap’s former partner “did not fully deny his guilt during his testimony”.
Stepukonis is suspected of having misappropriated EUR 40 million from the BaltCap Infrastructure Fund, an EUR 80 million investment fund, focusing on infrastructure projects in the Baltic countries. The BaltCap Infrastructure Fund is supported by the European Investment Bank (EIB) with EUR 20 million, under its Investment Plan for Europe.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office is overseeing the FNTT’s investigation into the embezzlement.