The two officers regularly conducted inspections on commercial vehicles and are accused of accepting “material benefits” in exchange for not reporting or punishing tachograph violations. As a result, the duo submitted fake inspection documents, which is another crime.
The police officers were arrested on January 31st and have been held in custody since the following day.
According to Latvia’s TV3, the investigation into the bribes came partly as a result of a tv documentary that found that “companies that provide transportation services worth millions” had bribed police officers to avoid overload fines.
“As a result of the criminal activities of such officials, the roads of Latvia are damaged, the state suffers millions of losses, and the safety and life of every road user is endangered. The fight against bribe-takers is considered fundamental in order to demonstrate the state’s zero tolerance for dishonest officials and active action to eradicate such cases,” said the Chief Prosecutor, as quoted by TV3.
Photo: Tohaomg, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (image cropped and used for illustrative purposes only)