Police suspect leading Eesti Energia employee in insider trading case
In the Enefit Green insider information case, the Central Criminal Police has brought suspicions against Eesti Energia's head of regulatory affairs, Jaanus Arukaevu.
Central Criminal Police spokesperson Leana Loide told ERR that one of the suspects is Jaanus Arukaevu, who is suspected of insider trading.
According to Postimees, Arukaevu steadily bought Enefit Green shares throughout last year. He then paused before resuming more active purchases in March, just before the takeover bid announcement.
Arukaevu declined to comment to ERR about the charges.
"No, I will not comment on this matter," said Arukaevu, who has worked at Eesti Energia since 1999, held several senior positions and for the past 18 years has dealt with regulatory affairs.
A suspicion has also been brought against Liis Pilbas, a supervisory board member of Enefit Wind Purtse AS, who police suspect of disclosing insider information.
On Tuesday, the Central Criminal Police handed suspicions to three individuals and one company of insider trading and another individual with disclosing insider information. The suspicions concern stock market transactions made prior to the public announcement of the Enefit Green takeover bid.
Glassinvest OÜ and its board member Rain Luik have also been handed suspicions. Glassinvest is owned by Piret Pärna, head of renewable energy products at Elering, who in previous years sat on the committee evaluating tenders. According to police, suspicions have not been handed to Pärna.
The Central Criminal Police has also brought suspicions against former Enefit Green CEO Aavo Kärmas. He told ERR on Tuesday that while he had bought shares, he did not have insider information and had not made transactions based on it.
The case was opened following a report by the Financial Supervision Authority. As part of the criminal investigation, police are examining whether the suspects obtained insider information about the takeover bid and whether the leaked details enabled them to make illegal and highly profitable trades on the Tallinn stock exchange before the announcement was made public.
According to the preliminary suspicion, the transactions may have generated €130,000 in unlawful profit.
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Editor: Karin Koppel, Marcus Turovski
