Lithuania’s Financial Crime Investigation Service (FNTT) carried out searches at the homes and in the offices of MP Remigijus Zemaitaitis, leader of the far-right populist party, Dawn of Nemunas (PPNA), and another PPNA MP, Daiva Petkeviciene, BNS reported. FNTT also searched PPNA’s party headquarters in Vilnius. The investigation focuses on whether the two MPs committed a crime by leasing their personal cars to PPNA, which then paid for the lease from state funds. Earlier, the Central Electoral Commission (VRK) found that the MPs had misused state funds and deprived PPNA of state support.
Meanwhile, the Prosecutor General’s Office has opened an investigation into possible incitement of hatred by Zemaitaitis, ELTA reports. Earlier, the PPNA leader posted an AI-altered image of a female protester on Facebook and then made vulgar comments about the person. President Gitanas Nauseda argued that as long as PPNA remained in the ruling coalition, there would be “a continuous cycle of scandals.” Mindaugas Sinkevicius, chairman of the ruling Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (LSDP), said that his party would soon decide if it can continue working with PPNA in the current coalition.