LATVIAN SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT EMSIS' $10,000

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RIGA 000651

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2017
TAGS: PGOV KCOR LG
SUBJECT: LATVIAN SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT EMSIS' $10,000
PROBLEM


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. Stuart M. Seldowitz. Reason: 1.4
(d)


1. (C) Summary: Parliament Speaker Indulis Emsis may be on
the verge of being charged with corruption for receiving a
USD 10,000 cash payment in fall 2006. He and his office
allege no wrongdoing and have been eager to get their version
of events to us. If the transaction was clean, it
demonstrates incredibly poor judgment by Emsis. On August 30
and 31, Emsis commented to the media that he is ready to step
down so suspicions about him illegally accepting money do not
damage Latvia's reputation. However, he stated he still has
some consultations to do before leaving office. It may be
these consultations represent foot-dragging on his part to
allow the coalition time to minimize the political damage
from the scandal. End summary.


2. (U) In October 2006, former PM Indulis Emsis (then a
parliamentary committee chair) attended a lunch with other
coalition leaders in the cabinet office building's private
dining room. At the end of the lunch, Emsis left his
briefcase behind and when he returned to retrieve it, it was
gone. After police investigated, it was found the next day
in the possession of one of the waiters. Emsis then filed a
report saying that USD 3500 of USD 10,000 cash he had in the
briefcase was missing and the waiter pled guilty to stealing
the money. Emsis claimed the money came from a loan from a
friend to buy a tractor. On August 24, 2007, an internet
news site published a report saying that Emsis, who was
elected speaker of parliament following the October 2006
elections, was being investigated for corruption in this case
and prosecutors would soon ask the Parliament to strip him of
his immunity so he could be charged.


3. (C) On August 28, Pol/Econ chief met with Viesturs
Silenieks, Emsis' political advisor and effective chief of
staff, at Silenieks' request. Silenieks confirmed the
essential elements of the story, even acknowledging that he
delivered the cash to Emsis, which was handed to him in an
envelope by the benefactor over a working lunch. Silenieks
said the money came from an unspecified businessman with whom
Emsis has a long standing personal relationship that predates
Emsis' entry into politics. Silenieks claimed the same
individual had paid for Emsis and his wife (and Silenieks and
others) to spend their Christmas vacations in the Maldives in

2006. According to Silenieks, all the initial investigation
focused on the theft of the money, not the source.


4. (C) That changed in April this year, Silenieks said, when
the anti-corruption bureau (KNAB) asked him about the source
of the money and whether it was connected to Ventspils mayor
Aivars Lembergs, who was arrested in March on corruption
charges. (Note: Lembergs was the candidate for prime
minister from Emsis' Union of Greens and Farmers in the
October 2006 elections. End note.) Silenieks said he
believed that the KNAB focused on the source of the money
only in April because Emsis listed it as income on his 2006
financial disclosure statement filed April 1. Silenieks, who
has admitted to us that he has spoken to prosecutors
voluntarily on several occasions about the Lembergs case,
said that in an early August meeting with prosecutors, it was
clear to him that they remained interested in the source of
this money. Emsis allegedly called prosecutors to arrange to
come and speak to them voluntarily upon his return from a
planned official visit to Australia and New Zealand on August

29.


5. (C) Pol/Econ chief noted to Silenieks that regardless of
the source of the money, there was no way that 10,000 dollars
in cash being handed over in envelopes was going to be seen
as something positive. Asked of Emsis would be speaking to
the press following his meeting with prosecutors, Silenieks
said that Emsis was barred from doing so by an earlier
non-disclosure agreement he had signed. Pol/econ chief
suggested that the prosecutor might be willing to revisit
that in order to allow Emsis to address concerns about his
legal status given that he is the second ranking
constitutional officer in Latvia.


6. (C/NF) Separately, we were previously informed by reliable
sources within the government that prosecutors were
investigating Emsis for possible receipt of bribes from
Lembergs and that the money involved in the October theft was
being looked at from this angle. On August 29, a source in
the PM's office also said that there is a belief within the
coalition that Emsis' situation is more serious than he is
letting on publicly. The source added that if Emsis were
charged and arrested, he would have to step down as speaker
and there was no obvious choice within his party to take the
job, which could lead to a broader coalition reshuffle.


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7. (C) On August 30 and 31, Emsis informed the media that he
is ready to step down as Saeima chairman so that suspicions
about him illegally accepting money do not damage Latvia's
reputation. Noting that he first needed to consult with the
president and prime minister, he stated: "This case casts a
shadow over Latvia. There are only suspicions; no charges
have been made yet. But how long will this continue, that
one of the top officials of the state is a suspect?" Emsis
met with President Zatlers on August 30 to gain guidance on
what he should do in the situation. On August 31,
Pol/EconOff spoke to Andris Pelss, foreign policy advisor to
President Zatlers, regarding the substance of this meeting.
Pelss reported Emsis was "intent on resigning."


8. (C) Comment: Based on Emsis' comments to the press and
his meeting with President Zatlers, it is increasingly likely
that he will step down sometime next week. His
"consultations" with the president and prime minister may
represent a delaying tactic to allow behind the scenes
negotiation within the coalition--on next steps and how to
minimize the political damage. Whatever happens, the news
for Emsis is not good and Silenieks' eagerness to get us the
"full story" leads us to believe that Emsis and his people
know it. Even in the best case, Emsis has demonstrated
incredibly poor judgment in taking loans from friend paid in
cash and passed in envelopes through intermediaries. And if
the same individual has been providing vacations and other
items to Emsis, several additional lines of investigation
will be open to prosecutors. In the worst case, the money is
a bribe - be it from Lembergs or someone else - and Emsis is
in serious legal jeopardy if prosecutors can prove the case.

SELDOWITZ