Latvia's central bank governor Ilmars Rimsevics, who is suspected of bribe-taking by anti-corruption authorities, claimed he was innocent in an interview with the Financial Times published Friday. The eurozone member's longtime governor, who was appointed in 2001 and also sits on the European Central Bank governing council, was detained last weekend by the Corruption Prevention Bureau (KNAB) and accused of having solicited and received a bribe of at least 100,000 euros ($125,000).
Now out on bail, though barred from carrying out his duties, Rimsevics claimed that the accusations were the doing of several banks upset over his attempts to improve transparency regarding the bank accounts of non-residents in the Baltic country neighbouring Russia. "I just vehemently deny (these allegations)... I could only guess that I have been a very inconvenient public figure for several financial institutions in this country, thus making them for an extended period of time try to gather some evidence or (organise) provocations in order to remove me," he told the Financial Times. "It is a well-orchestrated action in concert among several individuals and banks who have served non-resident clients at various times... to whom I have become a burden."
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