Ilmārs Poikāns (born November 4, 1978) is a Latvian AI researcher at the Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science at the

University of Latvia University of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Universitāte, shortened ''LU'') is a state-run university located in Riga, Latvia established in 1919. The ''QS World University Rankings'' places the university between 801st and 1000th globally, seventh ...

. He has used the pseudonym Neo (of

The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...

), and is also known in the press as Latvia's "Robin Hood". Poikans alleged that both

Valdis Dombrovskis Valdis Dombrovskis (born 5 August 1971) is a Latvian politician serving as Executive Vice President of the European Commission for An Economy that Works for People since 2019 and European Commissioner for Trade since 2020. He previously served ...

, who is a

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

Vice President responsible for the integrity of the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

, and the

Bank of Latvia The Bank of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Banka,) is the central bank of Latvia. It is among the nation's key public institutions and carries out economic functions as prescribed by law. It was established in 1922. The principal objective of the Bank of ...

Governor Ilmars Rimsevics, who is a member of the council of

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#Intern ...

, supported the fraud conducted at

Parex Bank Parex Bank was a Latvian bank founded in 1992 by Valērijs Kargins and as a privately owned full-service banking company in Riga, Latvia that was very dominant in currency exchange in the 1990s. It had local and international clients in both t ...

and that Rimsevics received a very large sum for his efforts.

Allegations of illegal access to tax records

Ilmārs Poikāns was arrested and later released; prosecutors released a statement saying "Taking into consideration his attitude, his confession of the crime, and his cooperation in the investigation, we did not seek his pre-trial detention." Some allege that the arrest came as a result of a search of TV journalist Ilze Nagla's house on Tuesday May 11, 2010. After his arrest there were reports of a

flash mob A flash mob (or flashmob) is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform for a brief time, then quickly disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression. Flash mobs may be organized via t ...

outside the government's cabinet office. Ilmārs is alleged to have illegally accessed 7.5 million tax records and divulged pay rises for some high-ranking public sector employees, while rank-and-file employees were forced to take pay cuts as high as 30%. Poikāns was granted a presidential pardon on December 18, 2017.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poikans, Ilmars Living people Latvian computer scientists 1978 births Hackers Hacking in the 2000s University of Latvia alumni Academic staff of the University of Latvia