Scandals
In early 2013, Leonards Tenis, former transport advisor to the Mayor of Riga and deputy chairman of the Rīgas Satiksme council, was charged with repeatedly accepting large sums of bribes in the so-called German Daimler AG EvoBus bribery affair, in which Daimler bribed Tenis and various other Riga city council officials to win tenders for the purchase of public transport services between 2002 and 2006.[26][27]
In 2013 police detained an employee of Rīgas Satiksme on the suspicion that he had raped multiple underage girls and filmed pornographic scenes with them, as well as coerced approximately 200 underage girls via social networking websites. He was accused of committing 42 sexual crimes against 20 underage girls from 2009 to 2013.[28] In May 2015 another employee of Rīgas Satiksme was detained for gathering pornographic material of underage boys.[29][30]
On 1 February 2015 the Latvian Television analytical news program "Nothing Personal" reported that Rīgas Satiksme may be involved in a fraud scheme related to the company's procurement of detergents and other cleaning aids in 2013 and 2014, when plain water was supplied instead of the ordered nanotechnological detergents. In response to the report, Rīgas Satiksme set up a disciplinary investigative commission that performed an inquiry and reported not finding any violations in the procurement process.[31]
On 14 December 2017 four people were charged in what became infamously known as the "nanotechnology case" for a large-scale fraud causing 700 000 EUR loss to the company.[31][32][33] Among them was an official who was accused of "improper use of the service for gracious purposes, which has had serious consequences", while criminal proceedings had been initiated against two more officers, but Rīgas Satiksme was recognised as a victim in the case.[34] On 4 July 2018 the public prosecutor issued a warning to Riga City Council and Rīgas Satiksme for the procurement procedure of nanotechnology chemicals not complying with the requirements of the law.[35]
On 1 October 2018 police searched the offices of Rīgas Satiksme in relation to a launched criminal investigation over suspected large-scale fraud in the company.[36] Two days later the prosecutor's office confirmed that the searches were a part of a separate criminal case derived from the "nanotechnology case".[37]
On 11 December 2018, Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau carried out more than 30 searches in the offices of Rīgas Satiksme and the Rīga City Council and detained 6 people in Latvia, including Rīga Satiksme Infrastructure Maintenance and Development Department director Igors Volkinšteins and businessman Māris Martinsons and 2 in Poland in cooperation with the Poland's Central Anti-Corruption Bureau.[38][39] Two days later Riga Vidzeme District Court arrested 3 more people – Škoda Transportation Sales Area Director Vladislav Kozák, Honor to serve Riga party member and one of largest Harmony donors Aleksandrs Krjačeks and Edgars Teterovskis.[40] The same day the board of Rīgas Satiksme resigned.[41] Mayor of Riga Nils Ušakovs suspended the head of Rīgas Satiksme, Leonīds Bemhens[42] and appointed a temporary board, led by Anrijs Matīss.[41]
On 28 February 2019, Pūce demanded Ušakovs to provide a detailed overview for the state of Rīgas Satiksmes' financial affairs and planned steps to stabilize the situation in the company[47] after the interim chairperson of Rīgas Satiksme Anrijs Matīss announced the same day that the company would need 37 million euros in March to avoid insolvency.[48] On 5 March Matīss resigned due to lack of support for changes in the company from Ušakovs and was replaced by Ernests Saulītis.[49][50] On 8 March 2019, Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau detained a member of the Honor to Serve Riga, board member of Rīgas Karte and an official of Rīgas Satiksme Aleksandrs Brandavs on suspicion of bribery.
