Latvian Defense Ministry Says Corruption Allegations Are Fake News

The Latvian Defense Ministry is contending that corruption allegations — which resulted in the suspension of a central bank governor on Tuesday (Feb. 20) — could be part of a smear campaign to sow distrust and influence the October elections.

According to a Reuters report, the Defense Ministry didn’t say who might be behind the misinformation campaign, calling it a massive outside operation. It also noted it was “identical in structure and execution” to other campaigns aimed at influencing elections in France, Germany and the U.S. In those cases, Russia was blamed for the meddling in the elections.

The comments on the part of the Latvian Defense Ministry come as a series of corruption allegations have impacted the country’s eurozone-based financial sector. That sector is closely tied to Russia, a neighbor of the small country.

Some accusations came from the U.S. Department of Treasury, which contends ABLV Bank, the third-largest lender in Latvia, has engaged in money laundering and aided North Korea in breaching sanctions by the U.S. and other Western nations. The detention of central bank chief Ilmars Rimsevics as part of a bribery probe is also rocking the financial sector in the country.

“There is a high possibility that this is a wide information operation from outside, and its aim is to show Latvia as [an] untrustworthy ally and to promote the decline of trust in the government,” the defense ministry said in a statement, adding that the operation will likely continue until the parliamentary elections which are slated for October.

Earlier Tuesday (Feb. 20), the prime minister’s office announced the central bank chief has been detained over suspicions of soliciting a 100,000 euro bribe. Rimsevics, who was held over this past weekend, said he was the victim of a campaign to smear his reputation because of his mission to clean up corruption in the country’s banking sector. He has no plans to resign.

“I have not demanded or received any bribes,” Rimsevics said during a news conference. “I have become the target of some Latvian commercial banks to destroy Latvia’s reputation.”

The complaint was made by Norvik Bank, a small lender in the country. Its owner is Grigory Guselnikov, a Russian living in the U.K. who has not shown any evidence implicating the central bank chief, though he has been asked repeatedly to do so.