The European Commission has proposed EUR 9.49 million in disaster aid to help Latvia recoup losses suffered from a Jan. 9 storm that smashed into the country’s Baltic Sea coastline.

The commission announced Aug. 22 that it is proposing a total aid package of nearly EUR 93 million from the European Union Solidarity Fund to help Sweden and the three Baltic republics.

The storm’s hurricane-force winds did an estimated EUR 192 million in damage to Latvia, including uprooting trees, downing power lines and ripping roofs off buildings, the commission said. Latvia’s western coast, including the port cities of Liepāja and Ventspils, received the brunt of the storm, but its effects were felt as far as Rīga and beyond.

However, hardest hit was southern Sweden, where nine people died and losses totalled nearly EUR 2.3 billion.

The money would reimburse the countries for expenses such as rescue services, cleanup of disaster-stricken areas and restoration of basic infrastructure to working condition, the commission said.

Following devasting floods in Central Europe in August 2002, the fund was established as a way to help EU members and asceding countries deal with major natural disasters. The European Commission proposes the aid package, which then must be approved by the European Parliament and the European Council.

A check-cashing scam tied to Latvia and under investigation by authorities in several U.S. states has changed its name and introduced a new Web site, Latvians Online has learned.

While the Web site for Void Computers, subject of consumer alerts announced this week in Arkansas and other states, has been shut down, a new but similar Web site has been unveiled for Latvian IT Inc. Like Void Computers, Latvian IT purports to offer jobs to individuals who have posted their résumés on the popular employment portal CareerBuilder.com.

Authorities in Arkansas have warned that the Void Computers scam seeks individuals who are willing to try to cash counterfeit invoice payment checks. If successful, the individual is asked to forward the money to an account in Latvia, keeping a 10 percent fee for their services.

On its Web site, www.latvianit.us, Latvian IT claims to be a financial services company registered in Rīga, Latvia. But in e-mails being sent to some individuals, Latvian IT is identified as “a leading software company in Latvia.”

One e-mail, from someone named Michael Lioliadis, who claims to be an employee of Latvian IT, also claims the company is expanding in the United States.

“But because of various banking and legal restrictions,” the e-mail continues, “we are unable to open commercial bank accounts in every state. As such, Latvian IT Inc. is recruiting partners to conduct simple banking transactions on our behalf.”

Latvia’s business registry has no listing of either the company name or the registration number provided on the Web site. The address provided for the company doesn’t exist, and the telephone number listed is actually the dial-up Internet access number for clients of Latvian Mobile Telephone.

The Web site appears to be registered to a Web site developer in California who, when contacted by Latvians Online, was surprised to learn that his name and address were being used by Latvian IT.

Latvian IT claims to have been in business since 1993. The Web site also claims Latvian IT has been generous in support of cultural institutions and performances, such as the musical “Sister Carrie,” the Russian Drama Theatre in Rīga, and the “singer” Gidon Kremer, whose real talent is playing the violin.