On March 2, 2021 the State Border Guard in cooperation with the Kurzeme Region Board of the State Police and the State Revenue Service detained one Latvian citizen, who was the Chairman of a tourism agency, on allegations that from 2017 to 2020, he had submitted false information to the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, providing third-country nationals with a possibility of legally staying in Latvia, other Member States of the European Union, EEZ countries or in the Swiss Confederation.
Within criminal proceedings, initiated in 2019 pursuant to Article 285(2) of the Criminal Law on ensuring, in bad faith, persons with a possibility to acquire the right to stay in the Republic of Latvia legally, other Member State of the European Union, Member State of the European Economic Area or Swiss Confederation, if it is done for a greedy purpose or if such a possibility is ensured for two or more persons, it was established that a man had illegally made invitations to not less than 1,375 citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan, of whom not less than 1,055 received visas of the Republic of Latvia on the basis of these invitations, and at least 301 Uzbek citizens arrived in Sweden on the basis of these visas, where they applied for asylum.
On March 2, the law guards carried out several searches in Riga and Liepaja in connection with the pre-trial investigation, during which data carriers, cash in large quantities and documents were removed. The offender has been identified as a suspect in committing a criminal offence and non-custodial measures were applied to him.
The State Border Guard draws attention to the fact that a person may be held criminally liable for drawing up visas or residence permits to foreign citizens, according to Article 285(2) of the Criminal Law. For ensuring, in bad faith, persons with a possibility to acquire the right to stay in the Republic of Latvia legally, other Member State of the European Union, Member State of the European Economic Area or Swiss Confederation, in accordance with Criminal Law, the applicable punishment is the deprivation of liberty for a period of up to five years or temporary deprivation of liberty, or community service, or a fine, with or without the confiscation of property.