In the case, businessmen Mihails Ulmans and Aleksandrs Babenko are accused of inciting or ordering murder. Ulmans is also charged with aiding and abetting murder.
Accusations have also been brought against the alleged killer who fired the shots – Russian citizen Viktor Krivoshej, born in 1974. He is also accused of carrying and transporting a firearm and ammunition without a relevant permit and of disclosing information obtained in pre-trial criminal proceedings without the permission of the investigator or prosecutor.
The organizer of the murder has not been charged because he died a violent death. This person was Gennadys Valagins, convicted in the case of the once influential criminal group of Ivan Kharitonov. He was shot in March 2022 in Riga, Pļavnieki.
On the other hand, the criminal proceedings against one person were terminated, as no support for this crime was found in his activities. This person is Arkadijs Yudins, born in 1970.
In the pre-trial criminal proceedings, the circumstances of committing the crime and the persons involved, including their mutual distribution of roles for the implementation of the crime, were clarified. The prosecutor’s office believes that the motive for the crime was dislike of the administrator while he was performing his professional duties. Bunkus was the administrator of SIA “Rego Trade”, while Ulmans was a former board member of this company.
The LTV program “De facto” previously reported that 100,000 euros were offered to the organizer and 200,000 euros to the executor for the murder of Bunkus. More than 100,000 euros were not paid to the performer.
All the accused have been remanded in custody as a security measure.
Bunkus was shot on the morning of May 30, 2018, when he drove his car past the Riga Forest Cemetery. Shortly after the murder, a burned-out car with fake license plates was found near the scene.
