„(Nothing unclear – ELTA) I don't see anything, because the State Tax Inspectorate (VMI) (...) has to check how much money you have, how much you have declared, and you are allowed to transfer money from that declared amount. Otherwise, the money is returned if you transfer more than the declared amount. That's how the system works. It's impossible (to get around it – ELTA),“ the parliamentarian said on Wednesday.
„As you know, cash (support – ELTA) cannot be accepted. Only bank transfers are possible. Before issuing a transfer order, the Tax Inspectorate assesses whether the person has money or not,“ he said.
However, the parliamentarian did not elaborate on the circumstances of the transfers that served as the basis for the investigation.
„Ask those people. People donated, and that's it,“ the politician told reporters.
As announced, a joint journalistic investigation by several editorial offices revealed that part of the election campaign funds of the political party Nemuno Aušra were transferred from a bank account that had been topped up with cash just before the transfers, as there had not been enough funds in it before that, writes the portal Lrt.lt.
According to the investigation, seventeen people closely associated with the party's vice-chairman, Puchovičius, supported the party in this way. Among them were family members, close friends, neighbours, childhood friends, and people with whom they had business ties. Some of them deposited cash into their accounts before making political donations and then immediately transferred the same amounts to the Nemuno Aušra party.
The current Minister of the Environment, Žuromskas, similarly supported the party, depositing EUR 2,500 into his bank account and transferring the same amount to Nemuno Aušra on the same day.
Earlier, communications specialist Karolis Žukauskas announced that he suspected EUR 130,000 in cash had been transferred to the Nemuno Aušra account in the summer of 2024. After examining the party's bank account statement, he claims to have discovered that the party's supporters and their donations are concentrated in several cities across the country. He also noted that the amounts transferred to the party were rounded to the nearest whole number and transferred by members of the same city branch within a few days.
He reported these suspicions to five institutions: the Prosecutor General's Office, the State Tax Inspectorate (VMI), the Financial Crime Investigation Service (FNTT), and the Special Investigation Service (STT).
The STT, the Prosecutor General's Office, the FNTT, and the VRK confirmed receipt of the aforementioned complaint, and the information is currently being evaluated. The VMI did not confirm that it had received the complaint, but indicated that it was evaluating various information.
Following questions raised in the public sphere regarding the financing of Nemuno Aušra, the VRK launched an investigation into the matter at the end of January. The investigation will also assess possible third-party support for the party.
However, after examining the financial supporters of the presidential election campaign of Žemaitaitis, Chairman of Nemuno Aušra, Žukauskas announced that he had noticed that the politician had received donations from individuals possibly associated with the Lithuanian fuel station chain Jozita.
According to Žukauskas, 15 individuals supported the chairman of Nemuno Aušra before the presidential election, 10 of whom, or two-thirds, were individuals associated with this fuel station network.
According to data from the Central Election Commission (CEC), Nemuno Aušra, the chairman, allocated more than EUR 13,000 of his personal funds to the presidential campaign two years ago and received another EUR 24,500 from other individuals.