Produktech Engineering AG wins a Commercial Court case proving legality of source of funds threatened to be confiscated by the state

COBALT successfully represented Swiss company Produktech Engineering AG in one of the largest by value cases regarding the confiscation of the allegedly illegally acquired funds in the Commercial Court of Latvia. The Commercial Court acknowledged that the source of funds belonging to client of COBALT which have been seized since 2018 in the amount of EUR 2.6 million is legal and claims of the prosecution office are meritless.

According to recently published statistics by the Commercial Court, this is one of only a few cases where the owner of the seized funds in criminal proceedings has successfully proved the legal origin of the seized funds.

In the decision, the Commercial Court has paid particular attention to the quality of the investigative work, criticizing the person directing the case for not having used the reasonable opportunity to verify significant information provided by COBALT client. The court also pointed out that the time limits included in the criminal proceedings for the restriction of a person’s rights in relation to property must be used appropriately. Namely, if significant evidence that could increase doubts about the legal origin of the property is not obtained in the case for a long period of time, the person directing the proceedings should not hesitate to bring the case before the court.

Although the Commercial Court’s decision has not yet entered into force, its findings suggest that the court could continue to pay particular attention to the quality and efficiency of the investigative work to ensure that restraint of property rights in similar cases is used efficiently and reasonably.

Legal advice to Produktech Engineering AG was ensured by COBALT team, including Senior Associates Kristīne Patmalniece and Mārtiņš Tarlaps.

The announcement by the Commercial Court (in Latvian).