This week, we highlight the case of Ilmars Rimsevics a former President and Governing Council Member of the European Central Bank, Latvia who was sentenced for money laundering and bribery.

Rimsevics has been banned from holding state and local government positions for 60 months due to allegations of corruption. after two unnamed shareholders of Trasta Komercbanka, a Latvian bank that was shut down in 2016 for money laundering and fraud, accused Rimsevics of requesting a bribe in exchange for keeping the bank afloat. In 2010 when one of the shareholders approached him for help with matters related to the Finance and Capital Market Commission (FCMC). In exchange for his help, Rimsevics was offered a paid holiday trip to Kamchatka. In 2012, the same shareholder and another shareholder approached Rimsevics again, for assistance in other matters related to the FCMC. Rimsevics asked for USD 0.5 Mn as payment, which would be paid in two instalments – one before and one after the FCMC’s decision. Rimsevics was not acting alone in this situation. Martins Martins played the role of an intermediary and received 10 percent of the total bribe. Rimsevics used the USD 0.2 Mn bribe as a means of securing the bank’s survival. However, the bank was ultimately shut down in 2016 due to money laundering and fraud.