KNAB: Current Corruption Investigation Model in Private Sector Is Effective

Latvia's Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) has submitted a report to the government assessing the current arrangements for investigating corrupt criminal offences in the private sector. The bureau believes that the regulatory environment, institutional system and international assessments all indicate that the existing model is functioning and effective, and therefore sees no need for a general expansion of its investigative powers.

Statistics from the past five years show that KNAB has mostly initiated criminal proceedings related to unlawful conduct in state and local government institutions. However, the bureau has also sent for prosecution cases that go beyond classic bribery, including fraud and money laundering. KNAB says this demonstrates the flexibility of the current legal framework and its ability to respond effectively to various types of offences. In the bureau's view, criminal law serves as a tool rather than an obstacle, allowing it to act even beyond its primary institutional specialisation and reducing the ability of offenders to escape responsibility due to legal technicalities.

KNAB also stresses that detecting and proving corruption in the private sector is particularly difficult because the parties involved are usually mutually interested and benefit from the illegal transaction. Traditional investigative methods are therefore often insufficient, and operational capacity is essential.

The report concludes that maintaining the current legal framework and distribution of investigative competences, while strengthening preventive and oversight mechanisms to reduce corruption risks in the private sector, is legally justified and strategically proportionate. The Criminal Law already provides for liability for corrupt activities in both the public and private sectors, and the State Police is responsible for investigating corrupt offences in the private sector. The State Police also carries out preventive measures to inform the public.

KNAB emphasises that its role in preventing corruption in the private sector is not only repressive. The bureau also implements preventive, educational and methodological measures based on strengthening integrity and reducing risks. International obligations and EU legislation require corrupt practices, including in the private sector, to be criminalised and effectively investigated, but they do not prescribe a single institutional model. Latvia's regulatory framework as a whole meets these requirements, so KNAB does not consider it necessary to change the existing division of investigative competences.