Lithuania's vice minister of health has been named a suspect in an investigation looking into a 6-million-euro rapid tests deal.
The Financial Crime Investigation Service (FNTT) says Lina Jaruševičienė is suspected of abusing her office. In all, suspicions have been brought against six people.
The investigation centres around alleged fraud, document forgery, legalisation of illegally-obtained funds and abuse related to procurement of rapid coronavirus tests.
The probe was first announced in early June and surrounds the procurement of rapid coronavirus tests by the National Public Health Centre's laboratory.
Sources have told BNS that FNTT investigators are also looking into the activity of Profarma, the company that provided the tests.
The company is suspected of having forged documents and provided false information about the producer of the rapid tests when it signed the 6-million-euro contract, according to the investigation.
It is suspected that the buyer, the National Public Health Centre's laboratory, was misled and may have failed to research the market before signing the procurement deal and transfering the payment.
Profarma people among suspects
Representatives of Profarma, a Lithuanian company, are also among the people who have been named suspects in the investigation, FNTT deputy director Mindaugas Petrauskas told journalists on Monday.
“Some of them have been questioned, and we have special witnesses and also suspects. There are six suspects right now,” Petrauskas said.
“Furthermore, we are working in four directions: we are investigating the deal itself, the money that could have been illegally obtained. We are also investigating a case of fraud and possible abuse, and we are investigating potential money laundering,” he said.
Asked about potential suspicions against the managers of the laboratory, Petrauskas noted that its former head Vytautas Zimnickas passed away several weeks ago, and suspicions have not been brought against other employees yet.
Petrauksas said Jaruševičienė “is yet the only official” with suspicions brought against her.
Another agency, the Special Investigation Service (STT) is carrying out a separate investigation into the procurement of coronavirus test reagents by the National Public Health Surveillance Laboratory. Petrauskas said both services were sharing information.
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