A former Latvian police officer with a criminal record was detained by Latvia’s Corruption Prevention Bureau (KNAB) over an alleged attempt to bribe an Interior Ministry official on behalf of a blacklisted Russian citizen, LETA, a Latvian news agency, reported on August 15.

Latvian Television identified the suspect as Alvis Pilags, once an investigator at the State Revenue Service’s Internal Security Department. He was previously convicted in a separate bribery case, receiving a four-year sentence. Pilags began serving his term in 2022 but was later released early.

KNAB said one of the detainees was already known to law enforcement. According to Panorama, Pilags had also run in the 2020 Riga municipal elections with the Action Party, then led by pro-Kremlin activist Ruslans Pankratovs, who has since fled to Russia, LETA said.

The two suspects are accused of preparing a €100,000 bribe to secure permission for a Russian citizen – banned indefinitely from entering Latvia – to travel to the country.

KNAB chief Jekabs Straume stressed that “any illegal attempts to enable the entry of blacklisted persons into Latvia are unacceptable” and noted that cooperation between state bodies had helped stop the scheme.

Criminal proceedings were launched on August 5, and Riga City Court has ordered both suspects held in custody, LETA said.