In Lithuania, the owner of a plot with an underground tunnel towards Belarus was convicted

A verdict has been issued in Lithuania against a resident of the Šalčininkai district, whose yard contained an underground passage towards Belarus. The court found Lyucia Pochobut guilty of illegal enrichment, imposed a fine, and ordered the confiscation of nearly 140,000 euros, reports zerkalo.io.

In early 2025, a disguised tunnel was found on the Pochobut plot, located in close proximity to the Belarusian border. The investigation into the possible illegal crossing of the border was terminated as it was determined that the structure did not extend beyond the territory of Lithuania.

The case materials were forwarded to the Construction Inspectorate, which recognized the underground passage as an unauthorized construction and ordered the owner to demolish it. The woman attempted to contest this decision, claiming that only a small part of the structure was on her plot, while the rest of its length passed through undeveloped state land under the jurisdiction of the National Land Service.

As a result, the court imposed a fine of 15,000 euros on Pochobut and ordered the confiscation of 139,300 euros in favor of the state as income obtained through criminal means.

According to the case materials, from 2019 to 2022, the woman owned property worth more than 900 minimum living wages. During this time, she acquired several apartments in Vilnius, administrative premises, and other real estate. However, as the investigation established, her official income was insufficient to cover such expenses.

Pochobut herself did not admit guilt, stating that she purchased the property with borrowed funds. However, the audit of her financial and economic activities did not confirm the existence of legal sources of income in the required volume.

A temporary arrest has been placed on the convicted person's property, which will remain in effect until the full execution of the sentence. The decision of the first-instance court can be appealed within 20 days.

The woman's lawyer, Dainius Dargyavicius, previously stated that the discovery of the tunnel was a surprise for his client and that no suspicions were initially raised against her.

"Firefighters arrived, cut through the concrete floor, and discovered the tunnel," the lawyer said. "She knew nothing about it; the passage was filled with concrete."

According to the defender, before the visit of emergency and law enforcement services, Pochobut had no suspicion of the existence of the underground passage. It remains unknown for what purposes it was built and when exactly it appeared.