Businessman living in Ireland who owed €15 million struck off wanted list
An Estonian businessman who had been living in Ireland has been removed from the national wanted list, since full contact has been established between him and the authorities.
Oliver Kruuda, who has been declared bankrupt over debts worth millions of euros, was declared wanted on November 20, but has now been removed from the Police and Border Guard Board's (PPA) wanted list.
In 2020, the first-tier Harju County Court convicted Kruuda of submitting false information in his 2015 and 2016 income tax declarations. He reportedly relocated to Ireland in October of that year.
In 2021, the Tartu County Court declared Kruuda personally bankrupt following a bankruptcy petition filed by Best Idea OÜ, one of Kruuda's creditors and owned by businessman Marcel Vichmann. Kruuda owed the company and Vichmann €15 million, the court ruled.
However, earlier this year, the court terminated a criminal proceeding involving Kruuda, due to a statute of limitations kicking in.
On Tuesday this week, Hannes Kelt, head of the cyber and economic crimes unit at the PPA's North Prefecture, confirmed that Kruuda had been struck off the national wanted list, after contact had been re-established with him.
"A person is declared wanted when the police are unable to reach them either by phone calls or letters, and we also have no knowledge of where the person lives. It was precisely for these reasons that Oliver Kruuda was declared wanted," Kelt stated.
"Since we have now reached him, there is also no reason to continue searching for him," he added.
Kruuda had held majority stakes in several major companies, primarily in the food industry, including AS Kalev, Rakvere Meat Processing Plant, and Tallinna Piimatööstus AS.
At the end of last month, Kruuda said the wanted status was unnecessary as he was contactable via email and had himself reached out to the authorities.
He criticized being placed on the wanted list as "stigmatization," and said that due process under law, such as delivering or attempting to deliver summons or notices, had not been followed. This meant the state had harmed itself in terms of public trust in it, he added, noting that authorities had not made efforts to contact his appointed representative inside Estonia, either.
In any case, Kruuda confirmed he had been outside the country "for more than five years" and had informed the courts in June 2021 of that fact.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, : Johanna Alvin
