Loss was suffered at Ventspils City Court on Monday when insolvency application for a/s Kālija parks was dismissed. The security company TM security, the one dragged into political scandals, had submitted the application. And now this may subject the company's officials to the criminal liability. According to information that is available to Pietiek, corresponding application regarding the commencement of criminal proceedings has been already sent for investigation to Ventspils Police.

Under the judgment of Ventspils City Court that is available to Pietiek, the application of TM security is declared to be deliberately false. According to Section 214 of the Criminal Law those responsible may be subject to the imprisonment for a term of up to two years.

Security firm TM security – the one dragged into the political scandals – was defeated in the court by a/s Kālija parks, when the security firm tried to recover more than 2 million lats from the Ventspils transit company. Lion's share of this sum is made by the contractual penalty in the amount of 1,84 million lats. On Monday, December 19, Ventspils City Court dismissed the insolvency application for a/s Kālija parks, submitted by TM security. The judgment is final and is not subject to appeal.

According to the judgment, the court declared the insolvency application, submitted by TM security, as being “deliberately false”. The company Kālija parks wishes to use this court judgment for further fight against the scandalous security firm, referring to the extortion of money, when insolvency proceeding in the dispute at issue was tried to be illegally used.

Section 214 of the Criminal Law “Submission of a False Application for Insolvency” stipulates that for a person who submits such application for insolvency wherein false information has been provided or there has been concealment of information, if due to the application the insolvency proceedings may be announced or was announced (knowingly untrue insolvency proceedings application), the applicable sentence is deprivation of liberty for a term not exceeding two years or community service, or a fine not exceeding eighty times the minimum monthly wage, with or without deprivation of the right to engage in entrepreneurial activity for a term of not less than two years and not exceeding five years.

When dismissing the insolvency application, submitted by TM security, Ventspils City Court in the judgment stated that “the applicant has used insolvency proceeding in order to recover the debt, but this does not conform to the objective and purpose of the insolvency proceeding”. “The court considers that the application has been in a deliberately false manner submitted, because the applicant had already initially known that there is a dispute regarding the rights. This may be proved both by the debtor objections that were submitted by the applicant itself, and by the fact that even before the submission of the application for insolvency the applicant was informed about the commencement of proceedings before Kurzeme Regional Court. The court noted that such circumstances fully convince that the other contractual party does not recognise the obligations and dispute them. Despite that, this did not stop the applicant to submit the application for insolvency to the court,” says the judgment of 19 February. In the judgment Ventspils City Court refers to the civil action brought to Kurzeme Regional Court on 29 September by a/s Kālija parks against TM security and several other persons, including the sworn attorney Mārtiņš Kvēps where the legitimacy of the claims made by the security firm has been disputed.

As Pietiek had already reported, the owner of security firm TM security, Mārtiņš Tenbergs, over the last couple of months was trying to obtain the power over politicians, but in the political and business corridors he has positioned himself as the “gray cardinal” of those six independent deputies that have split from the Zatlers' Reform Party. Pietiek had already informed about the methods that are being applied by TM security in its activity when trying to take over companies using the indebtedness caused by doubtful agreements. Information that has not been officially confirmed indicates that representatives of a/s Kālija parks have delivered to law enforcement authorities some record of conversation with Tenbergs, which this autumn took place in one of the Old Town restaurants. In the conversation the owner of TM security offered Kālija parks to pay the compromise sum, which was more than 10 times smaller than the one which the firm later on wanted to recover, by initiating the insolvency proceeding. Additionally to this money Tenbergs had requested “to give some extra money as a tip to be used for some very expensive hotel”.

The contract at dispute between a/s Kālija parks and TM security was signed on 29 April 2010 allegedly for one day in order to influence the shareholders' meeting which on that day took place, by not letting the change of power in Kālija parks happen, when company would slip away from the hands of the so-called opponent of Lembergs – Oļegs Stepanovs. The same has already happened with AS Ventbunkers, which was continued to be guarded by TM security using force for several months even after the control was lost, not letting that the new representatives of majority shareholders enter the company. At present the Chairperson of the Supervisory Boards of both Kālija parks and Ventbunkers is the Swiss attorney Rudolf Meroni who represents one of the four mutually conflicting parties in the so-called Ventspils transit war. Sources related to Ventspils transit business had explained to Pietiek that TM security managed to conclude “at the last moment” the contract with Kālija parks, when it was clear that the ones who hire the security firm would have no possibility to pay for the services from the companies over which the control had been at that moment lost. In other words – the contract served for pumping out money from the company.

AS Kālija parks is one of the largest mineral fertilizer exporters with the total transshipment capacity till up to 7.5 million tons per year. The largest consumers of products that are being exported through Kālija parks is China, India, Brazil, USA.

read the original article at pietiek.com: http://www.pietiek.com/raksti/zaudejums_tiesa__tm_security__draud_ar_kriminalprocesu

What do some banks have in common with some attorneys? You can trust neither of them. In the banking business we see this in Krajbanka collapse, dragging down also the bank’s professional reputation. The portal www.pietiek.com informs about another case, which could lead to a similar outcome, but in the profession of an attorney.

Latvian Council of Sworn Advocates (CSA) will decide on Tuesday, December 6, whether to launch a disciplinary action against the sworn attorney Martins Kveps. The case could round up with Kveps being excluded from the circles of sworn attorneys, CSA Chairwoman Guna Kaminksa told Pietiek.com.

Kveps is reproached for failure to comply with the client’s interests and conflict of interest. The CSA has already asked an explanation from Kveps, while the attorney himself refused any comments to Pietiek.

The complaint was submitted on November 11 by the potash company Kālija parks, which stresses that back in April 2010 Kveps pretended to represent their interests. Thus, he tricked Kalija parks into signing an unadvantageous contract with the security company TM security. Based on these unadvantageous conditions, TM security is now claiming the Ventspils transit company’s insolvency. Kalija parks instead claims that it has evidence to prove that Kveps is in a conflict of interest, because he represents also TM security.

The whole story stems from April 2010, when Kalija parks slipped out of millionaire Oleg Stepanov’s hands and was taken over by the Swiss lawyer Rudolf Meroni. This was followed by attempts to keep the company with the help of TM security – just like in the case of AS Ventbunkers.

Kveps, who is linked with the interests of Stepanov, was then representing AS Kalija parks majority shareholders. He talked the company into signing a contract with the security company TM security. Kveps promised that the contract will be in force only for a single day – the one of the shareholders meeting. Actually, the contract remained in force and TM security employees stayed in the territory of Kalija parks despite the management’s objections. The contract developed by Kveps foresees that Kalija parks has to pay 25% of the total sum for each delayed daily payment. Similalry, Kalija parks is supposed to pay TM security a 100 000 lats compensation if the agreement is terminated.

The severe contractual conditions are not the only reasons why Kalija parks claims that the sworn attorney actually worked in the interests of the other party. “It is possible to conclude from SIA TM security’s words to AS Kalija parks that “Mr. Kveps will take care of everything”, as well as the severe conditions that Kveps acted in the interests of SIA TM security. Thus, not only did he ignore AS Kalija parks‘ interests, but also allowed the conflict of interest to enter his professional work,” it is said in AS Kalija parks‘ complaint to the Council of Sworn Advocates. What is meant here is TM security board member Markes Varnelis’ statement that “Mr. Kveps will take care of everything.”

“On April 29, 2010, Kveps was considered to be a sworn attorney working in the interests of AS Kalija parks, not providing legal assistance to SIA TM security. Only later it became known that Kveps had made ill use of trust in order to carry out other interests. He provided AS Kalija parks with misleading and false information, so that its board members would act without checking his words and in the interests of the third party represented by him,” it is said in the complaint that the CSA is about to review on December 6.

The complainants believe that Kveps’ “professional activities are violating the key principles of ethics. They dishonour not only him alone, but also cast the shadow of distrust to the profession of lawyer as such.” Therefore, the Kalija parks is asking the CSA to launch disciplinary action against Kveps on the grounds of “blunt violation of ethical norms in his professional work.” Kalija parks urges the CSA to dismiss Kveps from fulfilling the duties of a sworn attorney. According to the company, it is an appropriate punishment, because, given the attorney’s violations, he could be imposed the most severe punishment – exclusion from circles of sworn attorneys.