Savings and loan association ERIAL head found guilty
The criminal case involving the ERIAL Savings and Loan Association ended with the imprisonment of its director after the Supreme Court declined in June to hear the appeals submitted by the defense and the Prosecutor General's Office. As a result, the Tallinn Circuit Court's ruling took effect, Õhtuleht reported Wednesday.
The case concerning ERIAL revolved around the embezzlement of slightly more than one million euros through real estate transactions, as well as investment fraud in which the cooperative's share capital was artificially inflated, Õhtuleht reported.
The Harju District Court found the cooperative's key figure, Ilya Dyagelev, guilty of investment fraud and embezzlement, sentencing him to five years in prison. Daniela Dalberg-Dyageleva and Daniel Nevsky were also convicted. The Tallinn Circuit Court upheld the sentences without changes.
Commenting on the case, Prosecutor General's Office representative Sigrid Nurm told Õhtuleht that the ERIAL case demonstrated how money invested or deposited in savings and loan associations is not protected to the same extent as in banks. "The case shows that even if the state intervenes in a fraudulent scheme, that unfortunately doesn't guarantee investors will get their money back," Nurm said.
"Although the legal framework governing savings and loan associations has been clarified by law, people need to understand the obligations, rights and financial risks that come with any investment instrument," the prosecutor added, noting that lawmakers have already begun addressing this issue in light of the ERIAL case.
"Today we can say that lawmakers have imposed more requirements on savings and loan associations going forward, making it more difficult to use similar schemes," Nurm said.
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Editor: Mait Ots, Marcus Turovski
