Martins was a sworn lawyer with more than 18 years’ professional work experience. He led a successful law firm, and worked as a public official – an insolvency administrator.
In his practice, Martins often undertook extensive and complex cases related to the restructuring of companies and implementation of large investment projects, as well as represented clients in significant legal proceedings. He had an in-depth knowledge of the legal framework of credit institutions and the financial market.
On 30 May 2018, at around 8:40 am on Aizsaules Street 1, Riga, Latvia, M. Bunkus was shot dead. The murder occurred in broad daylight in a public place while M. Bunkus was driving in his car past a cemetery not far from the main headquarters of the State Police.
According to the public statement of the police, the murder was carefully planned in advance and was committed by at least two people with an automatic weapon.
And the alleged cause of the crime is thought to be related to the professional activities of M. Bunkus. The police also confirmed that an orange-red Volkswagen LT van with a double cabin and a cargo box that was fitted with a red or orange tarpaulin was used to commit the murder.
The car had a fake state registration plate with the number JD 5960. Shortly after the murder the vehicle was found burning not far from the crime scene –next to the crematorium and the railroad tracks.
24 May 2022, the State Police announced that one of the real beneficiaries of LPB Bank, Mihails Ulmans, and his long-time business partner, Aleksandrs Babenko, co-owner of “Mego”, had been detained on suspicion of commissioning and organising the murder of the attorney at law Martins Bunkus.
The investigation took four years since the murder. On 24 November 2022, the State Police handed over the investigation file on the murder of Martins Bunkus, which consisted of 121 volumes of case files, to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Riga Court District.
The alleged commissioners and organisers of the murder are finally in the dock. This is an unprecedented case in the history of Latvian judicial proceedings, when both the commissioner and the executor of a murder are sitting in the dock in a crime of this level.
Will Justice prevail for Martins Bunkus?
by Nethunter47