First-instance court acquits Magonis and Ossinovski on bribery charges 2021-01-21 LETA/TBT Staff
RIGA - The Vidzeme District Court today acquitted former Latvijas Dzelzcels railroad company s CEO Ugis Magonis and Estonian millionaire Oleg Ossinovski on bribery charges.
The ruling may be appealed to the Vidzeme Regional Court.
According to the indictment, in the summer of 2015 Magonis accepted a EUR 500,000 bribe from Ossinovski so that Latvijas Dzelzcels subsidiary LDz Ritosa Sastava Serviss would purchase four old locomotives for several million euros from Ossinovski s company Skinest Rail. The criminal case was investigated by the Corruption Prevention Bureau.
The prosecutor s office asked the court to hand down four-year prison sentences to both defendants. In addition, the prosecutor s office wanted Magonis property to be confiscated and ban Magonis from working on boards of state and municipal companies for five years.