It is being reported that the Latvian State Security Service (the VDD) has discontinued a criminal investigation started in November 2023 into the sale of a helicopter by a company indirectly co-owned by the designated person Petr Aven .
The sale had been reported to the VDD by a court-appointed bailiff on suspicion that the sale (which took place as part of an insolvency proceeding of the helicopter owning company) may be being used as a tool to circumvent the relevant asset freezes imposed by the EU.
The investigation included the questioning of a number of witnesses, and the freezing of the sale proceeds.
The VDD has concluded that the insolvency was proper, that the loan agreement which funded the helicopter purchase pre-dated the imposition of sanctions, and that the debts of the company could be discharged from the sale proceeds