Police Earned Well from Selling Information about Deceased Residents of Latvia

Police Earned Well from Selling Information about Deceased Residents of Latvia 0

Two funeral bureaus may have paid the detained police officers in March 150–200 euros for the contact details of the relatives of each deceased person, said Igor Jaunrodziņš, head of the Bureau of Internal Security, who is involved in hunting down werewolves in uniform, on the De facto program.

As reported by bb.lv, in early March, the Bureau of Internal Security (BIB) detained six officials from the Riga Regional Police Department and one former police officer, as well as four private individuals engaged in business in the funeral services sector, on suspicion of aiding a crime due to abuse of office for personal gain.

Police officers repeatedly provided representatives of specific funeral companies with information obtained during their outings about the deceased and their relatives, thereby enabling these companies to contact the deceased's loved ones and enter into contracts for the provision of funeral services.

Jaunrodziņš stated that this scheme was a "systematic activity for which the police officers received rewards ranging from 150 to 200 euros." The case was initiated based on events from last year; however, the BIB allows for the possibility that such practices may have existed longer.

At least 16 episodes have been recorded in the case so far.

In mid-March, a process was also initiated to apply coercive measures to the involved legal entities. According to unofficial information, one of the enterprises is SIA "Apbedīšanas birojs Angel," and the second is SIA "OB birojs."

"Apbedīšanas birojs Angel" is one of the largest enterprises in the country. In 2024, its turnover exceeded 670,000 euros. Ten years ago, the company's management complained in an interview about weak industry oversight and unfair client poaching in hospitals. The company has not provided any comments now.

The owner and board member of SIA "OB birojs," Sergey Krasnov, denied any connection with the detained police officers in a comment to De facto. He did not provide further comments.

According to Lursoft, there are about 230 companies operating in the funeral services sector in Latvia, of which 74 are in Riga. Over the past ten years, the industry's turnover has increased from 8 million euros in 2016 to nearly 17 million in 2024.