The Appeals Court Found Magonis and Osinovsky Guilty of Bribery 0 5

The Criminal Chamber of the Appeals Court, reviewing the case in an appellate manner, overturned the acquittal of the Vidzeme District Court dated January 21, 2021. The Appeals Court found that the charges supported by the prosecutor in the appellate court were justified and that the money received by Magonis from Osinovsky constituted a bribe.

The appellate court ruled to impose prison sentences on Magonis and Osinovsky: three years for Magonis and two years and ten months for Osinovsky; however, it mitigated the decision, recognizing that the rights of Magonis and Osinovsky to conclude the process within a reasonable time were not respected in the criminal proceedings.

Taking this circumstance into account, the court reduced the sentence imposed on Magonis to two years and six months of imprisonment, while imposing a milder penalty on Osinovsky—a monetary fine.

The court also ruled to apply partial confiscation of property to Magonis, confiscating a "Mercedes Benz" car, over 800,000 euros, and three wristwatches. In turn, the court imposed an additional penalty on Osinovsky, prohibiting him from participating in state and municipal procurements, as well as public procurements conducted by their enterprises in any capacity for a period of three years.

The court also ruled to confiscate and allocate the bribe itself—499,500 euros—to the state budget.

The full text of the Appeals Court's judgment with detailed reasoning will be prepared later, after which it can be appealed to the Supreme Court.

It was previously reported that the Vidzeme District Court fully acquitted both defendants in 2021; however, the prosecutor filed an appellate protest against this decision. The first-instance court established that half a million euros were transferred to Magonis, but it was not proven that this was a bribe. Both defendants held a similar position.

The case in the first instance was presided over by Judge Karlis Jansons, who insisted in his explanations after the verdict was announced that the procurement of locomotives was not within Magonis's competence, as there was a subsidiary of LDz—"LDz ritošā sastāva serviss"—which successfully handled the procurement of four locomotives without Magonis's involvement.

Regarding the second part of the charges against Magonis, the court established that Magonis met with the leaders of "Russian Railways" not as an official of the Latvian state, but because he had personal and friendly relations with the senior officials of "Russian Railways," Jansons pointed out. Magonis's activities in "Russian Railways" were in no way related to his official duties, the judge assessed. Osinovsky, in the court's opinion, transferred money to Magonis as a private individual for lobbying his interests in "Russian Railways." Thus, the elements of the crime for none of the actions attributed to both defendants were established, the first-instance judge was convinced.

Based on this, Jansons believed that the prosecutor did not gather sufficient evidence for the charges brought.

The basis of the charges against Magonis lies in a combination of two actions, namely: the prosecutor believes that in the summer of 2015, money was transferred to him to facilitate the acquisition by the subsidiary of LDz—LLC "LDz ritošā sastāva serviss"—of four diesel locomotives from the company JSC "Skinest Rail," owned by entrepreneur Osinovsky.

In addition, the prosecutor believes that Magonis promised to meet with the then-president of "Russian Railways," Vladimir Yakunin, and achieve a favorable decision in Osinovsky's interests, namely—that Russian locomotives would be repaired at the factory in Daugavpils. The total amount of the bribe, according to the prosecutor, was about half a million euros.

The defendants themselves did not plead guilty. Estonian millionaire Osinovsky did not admit guilt in the corruption crime attributed to him, although he did not deny that he transferred money to Magonis, but insisted that it was intended for another purpose and was not a bribe.

In the first-instance court, the prosecutor requested prison sentences of four years for both defendants. In addition, the prosecutor requested that the 499,500 euros confiscated during the defendants' detention be recognized as property obtained by criminal means and confiscated in favor of the state.

The Bureau for Prevention and Combating Corruption detained Magonis on August 6, 2015.