Suspicions of embezzlement have been brought against Kvedaras. A pre-trial investigation was opened on 27 October last year, and the suspicions against Kvedaras were brought on 3 August this year. Kaunas District Court suspended him on 30 August.
Kvedaras lodged an appeal. He told the court of higher instance that acts he was suspected of had nothing to do with his position at the Lithuanian Football Federation. According to him, he has not had access to the federation's funds after being elected president and he appointed a representative to handle all financial matters. He also noted that investigators had not asked to provide any financial or other documents until the day of the appeal. The court satisfied Kvedaras' appeal.
The court ruled that the suspect can only be suspended from his official position if the person is suspected of having committed a criminal act related to his official position. Kvedaras is suspected of illicit enrichment.
"It's obvious from this suspicion that this act is not directly related to [Kvedaras'] activities at the federation," the court ruled.
The Lietuvos Rytas daily wrote in early September that Kvedaras, who has long been linked with the underworld, was suspected of having embezzled the money earmarked by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) to Lithuania.
Criminal charges against Kvedaras were brought at the end of last year. The Lithuanian State Tax Inspectorate found that the LFF president was spending nearly 500,000 litas (EUR 145,000) per year but was unable to account for the source of the money.
Kvedaras bought apartments in the seaside resort of Palanga, drove expensive cars worth hundreds of thousands of litas each, and purchased an expensive Harley-Davidson.
The evidence collected by tax inspectors were forwarded to the Financial Crimes Investigation Service, which opened an investigation.
During interrogation, Kvedaras specified several individuals from whom he had allegedly borrowed large amounts of money. The information proved wrong. The authorities also received information about possible UEFA money embezzlement schemes.
Kvedaras was elected LFF president in March.
