Lithuania’s Financial Crime Investigation Service, in cooperation with the State Security Department of Lithuania, is conducting a pre-trial investigation into alleged credit fraud by several Lithuanian companies. The investigation is organised and supervised by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
As part of the investigation, it has been established that citizens of Lithuania, Belarus and Russia, acting as an organised group, may have used companies registered in Lithuania to obtain financial support from the European Union, while exporting the manufactured products to Russia and Belarus, where they could be used in the military industry.
The Lithuanian companies were engaged in the production, assembly and programming of microcircuits, chips, navigation systems and other devices. The suspects allegedly submitted forged and misleading documents to the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) to obtain EU funding. The total amount of support exceeded €1.06 million, more than €745,000 of which came from EUSPA. To date, the companies have received more than €447,000 in such funding.
According to the Financial Crime Investigation Service, the products manufactured in Lithuania were allegedly exported to Belarus and Russia and used in the military industries of Russia and Belarus. In 2025, two of the Lithuanian companies in question were recognised as posing a threat to national security.
“Thus, members of the organised group allegedly acted in the interests of Belarus and Russia and created a real threat to the national security of Lithuania and the European Union. The members of the organised group — suspected citizens of Russia, Belarus and Lithuania — are interconnected and participate in the activities of Russian and Belarusian companies subject to EU sanctions. It is suspected that these companies operate in the military industries of Russia and Belarus,” the Financial Crime Investigation Service said.
On 16 December, the Financial Crime Investigation Service and the State Security Department launched a joint operation coordinated by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. Ten searches were carried out. Suspects — citizens of Lithuania, Belarus and Russia — were detained. Several days later, one of the organisers, a Belarusian citizen who had arrived in Lithuania, was also detained. The suspects held residence permits in Lithuania.
Charges have been brought against six members of the organised group, including one legal entity. One of the accused has been placed under arrest. Two other foreign nationals are being sought.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office states that the investigation concerns one Lithuanian company and reports three arrests made last week. They are linked to a company that, since December 2023, has been implementing an EU-funded project to manufacture global navigation satellite system receivers for agricultural use. The receivers provide high-precision positioning for agricultural machinery, enabling accurate guidance and mapping without the need for local correction signal infrastructure.
The Lithuanian company told EUSPA that it was not subject to EU restrictions, but the European Public Prosecutor’s Office suspects that it has links to Belarusian citizens who cooperate with sanctioned Russian and Belarusian military enterprises.
In April 2022, the ownership of the Lithuanian company changed: ownership was transferred from a Belarusian citizen to a family member holding Belarusian and US citizenship.
The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.
