Suspect detained over ATM thefts in Riga and Jelgava sent for prosecution
A member of an organized crime group linked to ATM cash cassette thefts in Riga and Jelgava this spring has been detained in Lithuania and referred for prosecution. Police are still searching for the remaining members of the group.
Latvian State Police have completed their investigation into one suspect involved in a series of ATM thefts in Riga and Jelgava. The case file concerning a Kosovo national born in 1985 has been handed to the Riga Pārdaugava Prosecutor's Office to begin criminal prosecution.
Timeline of the thefts
Police received reports of the thefts in April and May of this year. On April 27, a cash cassette was stolen from an ATM on Rūpniecības Street in Jelgava. Then on May 13, two similar thefts occurred in Riga, on Dzelzavas Street and Valdeķu Street. Investigators determined that all three thefts were carried out by the same organized group of four members.
Equipment used
To carry out the thefts, the group used specialized equipment designed to break into ATMs, along with previously stolen Latvian vehicle license plates to hinder identification.
Detention in Lithuania
On May 14, one member of the group — a Kosovo national born in 1985 — was detained in Lithuania along with the vehicle used in the thefts. He has since been placed in custody.
Criminal proceedings were initiated under several articles of the Criminal Law, covering theft and violations related to the use of stolen license plates. On July 14, the relevant division of the State Police's Riga Regional Criminal Police Department forwarded the case to prosecutors to begin criminal prosecution.
The investigation into the remaining three members of the organized group is ongoing. Police note that no person is considered guilty until proven so through the legally established procedure.
