Lithuanian’s pension fund system is sound, the Bank of Lithuania has said following the reports that a former fund manager Šarūnas Stepukonis has allegedly embezzled and gambled away 16 million euros from the private equity firm BaltCap.
“Assessing the alleged unprecedented theft from BaltCap, the Bank of Lithuania wants to point out that this case is related to the alleged criminal activity by a BaltCap employee, and not to investments or pension systems,” Lithuania’s central bank said in a statement on Wednesday.
Further reading
BaltCap is registered in Estonia and is supervised by the Estonian central bank. Estonian pension funds have invested in BaltCap companies and may have lost several million euros due to Stepukonis’ actions.
The alleged embezzlement hit Lithuanian pension funds, too. Swedbank and SEB pension funds have been investing in BaltCap since 2017.
“Speaking of Lithuanian financial market participants, SEB Investicijų Valdymas and Swedbank Investicijų Valdymas are known to have invested in the BaltCap Infrastructure Fund. It is also known that the potential theft affected pension funds managed by the aforementioned companies not only in Lithuania but also in other Baltic states,” the central bank said.
The pension funds’ investments in the BaltCap were in line with common practices and requirements, it added.
Validated origin
The Estonian-owned Olympic Casino Group Baltija is also named in the lawsuit against Stepukonis.
“I can assure you that the procedures laid down in the applicable legislation were also followed in this particular case. The gambling had been done online in the non-cash form over a long period of time, and the money was transferred to the gambling account from the accounts in financial institutions operating in Lithuania, and the origin of the money was validated,” Tomas Palevičius, CEO of Olympic Casino Group Baltija, told BNS.
“The money flows were also clearly reflected in the declarations we submit to the State Tax Inspectorate in accordance with the law. When it comes to this particular case, we previously received requests for additional information from the central bank, the State Tax Inspectorate, and the Financial Crime Investigation Service, and we provided it immediately,” he added.
According to Arnoldas Dilba, head of the Legislation, Staff and General Affairs Division at the Gambling Control Authority, the law does not currently allow gambling operators to stop gamblers if they suspect that they are addicted to gambling and are using shady money.
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