The Latvian office of the public prosecutor charged the Latvijas Banka head Edgars Rimsevics with bribery on June 28.

The charges come upon the request of the Baltic state’s Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) made on June 18. The prosecution did not mention Rimsevics by name, saying in an official statement that the charges are filed against “the President of the Bank of Latvia”.

Charges were also made against one other person, who is believed to be businessman Maris Martinsons.

The charges build upon KNAB’s investigation into “alleged solicitation and acceptance of a bribe by a public official,” the anti-corruption office said on filing the charges request. The alleged amount of the bribe is over €100,000, it added.

KNAB also suggested that the official and the other individual were somehow involved in dealings of the compromised Trasta Komercbanka, which went under in 2016 in effect over money laundering charges. According to an infographic presented by KNAB, money flowed from Trasta Komercbanka via the alleged individual – Martinsons – to Rimsevics.

Latvijas Banka suspended Rimsevics upon the start of the investigation in February, causing confusion at the European Central Bank, where he is a board member because of Latvia’s membership in the Eurozone.

The ECB has asked the European Union's top court to rule on whether measures against Rimsevics are in line with EU law. A recent meeting of the ECB in the Latvian capital Riga took place without Rimsevics.

Rimsevics denies any wrongdoing, claiming it was his efforts to clean up the Latvian banking system, which has developed a reputation of being a safe haven for illegal money, that landed him in trouble.

The governor has also refused top Latvian politicians’ calls to step down.