the general’s detention is linked to disinfection in the army

However, Kopeika himself connects the incident with the possible efforts of his colleague, who may take revenge on him for earlier checks, the LTV De Facto program reported.

A week ago, the Military Police conducted a search at the State Center for Civil Defense and detained Ervins Kopeika. As a result, he was suspended.

For now, the responsibilities of the head of the State Geospatial Information Agency are assigned to the General Director of the Latvian Geospatial Information Agency, Martins Liberts.

“The property was written off incorrectly”

Details of the criminal case are not disclosed. But according to unofficial information, the investigation may be related to incorrect write-off of property.

At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic (end of May 2020), the United States donated 13,500 euros to Latvia to purchase disinfectants and disposable gloves for the safe conduct of centralized exams in Latvian schools.

The supplies were purchased and delivered to schools by the National Armed Forces in collaboration with local authorities.

This gift from the United States was first recorded on the balance sheet of the then Center for State Defense Facilities and Procurement. Later this institution was reorganized into GCOLZ.

After the reorganization, disinfectants and gloves, which had been distributed to schools for a long time, were transferred to the GCOLZ. It is possible that a criminal case has been initiated for unlawful write-off of property.

The National Armed Forces only officially confirm that the Military Police has opened an investigation once morest one person for forgery of documents.

“It has to do with my checks.”

The general himself refused to talk regarding the circumstances of the investigation, but clearly stated that the initiation of criminal proceedings was related to the checks that he himself conducted in the institution.

“Essentially, officials responsible for control over procurement found a case that was a hundred years old, and then it was delayed at the very moment when I was investigating, as it seems to me, more important things. And miraculously, relatives of persons related to this were also involved in this case to procurement. A little earlier, the same people tried to fabricate a case of harassment once morest me,” said Ervins Kopeika.

The head of the State Center for Defense Logistics and Procurement claims that since the beginning of the year he has carefully checked the Ministry of Defense’s purchases and discovered significant violations – both falsification of documents and, possibly, unauthorized agreements. Also, according to him, it was possible to identify the real people responsible for the scandalous purchase of food for the needs of the army for 220 million euros.

“The attacks on me have been going on for a long time. I do not shirk responsibility. If I violated something, I will answer,” the suspended brigadier general told the program.