(Bloomberg) -- A Latvian court handed down lengthy prison terms to an ex-bank owner and two other men for the murder of a prominent lawyer six years ago.
Martins Bunkus was shot multiple times through the windshield of his Range Rover while driving through the Baltic nation’s capital, Riga, in May 2018. Police said that the assailant fired a Kalashnikov assault rifle from the back of a cargo trailer pulled by a van, which was later burned.
Mihails Ulmans, who previously held 49% of LPB Bank, and a co-conspirator were each given 15 years in prison for ordering the murder, the Riga court said in a statement on Tuesday, citing a summary judgment. A third man who carried out the killing was given life imprisonment.
Lawyers for Ulmans and the other men, who have repeatedly maintained their innocence, said they plan to appeal the verdict, Latvia’s public broadcaster reported.
The murder in broad daylight followed a series of damaging developments for Latvia’s banking sector, including the demise of its second-biggest lender ABLV over money-laundering accusations.
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