The prosecutor asks to arrest Š. Stepukonis, who is suspected of embezzling BaltCap funds, for another month

The arrest of Š. Stepukonis, which ends next Saturday, is requested to be extended for another month, Giedrius Janonis, the representative of the Vilnius City District Court, confirmed to BNS.

“On February 22, 2024, the district court of the city of Vilnius received the prosecutor’s statement regarding the extension of the pretrial detention for one month for the citizen Š.S., who is suspected of possibly embezzled funds,” said G. Janonis.

A remote court hearing to decide the custody issue will be held on Friday.

Š. Stepukonis is suspected of embezzling at least 27 million. euros from fund companies. BaltCap representatives say that about 40 million could have disappeared from the fund’s companies. euros.

Two pre-trial investigations are being conducted in relation to Š. Stepukonis.

In one of them, he was recognized as a suspect for the illegal transfer of more than 27 million. embezzlement of euros. Another pre-trial investigation, terminated in 2022 and resumed in February, is related to 3.9 million EUR transfer to Š. Stepukoni from a Polish company for allegedly selling shares.

The prosecutor’s office claims that most of the embezzled amount is more than 20 million. euros – Š. Stepukonis lost in the casino. He could have directed another part of the money to the Hungarian stock trading platform “Interactive Brokers Central Europe”.

Prosecutor D. Karčinskas said this week that Š. Stepukonis “does not completely deny” his guilt during his testimony, but presents his version of events, which will be checked.

Š. Stepukonis himself returned to Lithuania from Ukraine on February 10 and presented himself at the premises of the Financial Crimes Investigation Service (FNTT) in Vilnius, where he was arrested. Two days later, he was remanded in custody for two weeks.