The first-tier Harju County Court on Tuesday found Tõnis Sildaru, 44, guilty of embezzling assets belonging to Kelly Sildaru, now 24, dating back to over a decade ago, when she was a minor.

The indictment stated Tõnis Sildaru used the assets of his underage child, Kelly Sildaru, without the legal basis or court permission to do so, and for his own benefit and for the benefit of third parties.

The alleged offenses took place primarily between late June 2014 and August 2019; the legal representation of the minor and management of her assets continued through to February 2020, when Kelly Sildaru turned 18.

According to the charges, a total of €550,324 in cash was withdrawn from the child's account, while transfers worth €404,340 were made to the accused's own account, of which €6,244 was later returned. The court also did not establish as fact that the sum of €398,095 had been used in the child's interests. According to the charge sheet, the total amount of assets unlawfully appropriated for personal benefit reached €1,024,608, including payments made to third parties.

In the court's assessment, the charges brought against Tõnis Sildaru were proven. As a parent, Sildaru senior had had access to money deposited into the account of his underage child, Kelly, and had unlawfully diverted it for his own benefit, the benefit of close associates, and third parties under his control.

The money deposited into a bank account in Kelly Sildaru's name constituted the property of the underage victim, the court found, earned through her sporting activities. As her parent, the court found the defendant should have managed these assets in accordance with the Family Law Act and the principles of prudent asset management. According to the court, Tõnis Sildaru failed to do this, and instead utilized the victim's assets for his own benefit and that of third parties.

The victim, Kelly Sildaru, had filed a civil claim within the proceedings seeking €211,207 from Tõnis Sildaru, MTÜ Kelly ja Henry Sildaru Suusaklubi, an NGO, and from Rainar Paavo and Mart Nöps. The court dismissed the claim against Nöps and Paavo, but upheld the claim against Tõnis Sildaru and MTÜ Kelly ja Henry Sildaru Suusaklubi, ordering them together to pay €211,207 to satisfy Kelly Sildaru's claim. The court also ordered that the €211,207 frozen in the account in the name of MTÜ Kelly ja Henry Sildaru Suusaklubi remain seized until the civil claim has been fully compensated to Kelly Sildaru by Tõnis Sildaru and by the NGO.

The court also ordered Tõnis Sildaru to pay a compulsory state fee of €1,419 for committing a second-degree criminal offense as procedural costs. Tõnis Sildaru is also required to bear Kelly Sildaru's legal costs, to a total of €95,235. The court ruled that Tõnis Sildaru is liable to bear his own defense costs incurred during the criminal proceedings, to a total of €81,183. The court also ordered Kelly Sildaru to reimburse Nöps and Paavo for civil litigation expenses totaling €18,130, divided equally between them, i.e. €9,155 to Mart Nöps and €9,155 to Rainar Paavo.

ETV investigative journalist Mihkel Kärmas told "Ringvaade" (link in Estonian) later on Tuesday that his gut feeling was the county court decision would be appealed.

Background before Tuesday's ruling:

At the end of December 2023, the North District Prosecutor's Office charged Tõnis Sildaru with embezzlement. Evidence collected during the pre-trial investigation indicated that between 2014 and 2020, Tõnis Sildaru had unlawfully used assets earned by his underage daughter, diverting them for his own benefit and that of third parties.

Kelly Sildaru filed the civil claim for €211,207 against Tõnis Sildaru, MTÜ Kelly ja Henry Sildaru Suusaklubi, and related individuals. The sum had reportedly been used to purchase shares in water company AS Tallinna Vesi in the name of the ski club, rather than Kelly Sildaru. The shares were later sold, but the proceeds were not transferred to Kelly Sildaru.

"Until a child reaches adulthood, a parent is the child's legal representative and guardian of their property. However, this does not mean that a parent may treat the child's assets as if they were their own," Leelet Kivioja, the North District prosecutor representing the state prosecution, said in early 2024. "On the contrary, a parent must keep the child's property separate and may use it only for the child's maintenance, management of the property, or other child-related ongoing expenses. Nonetheless, it is worth bearing in mind that parents are obligated to support their children, not vice versa."

"The pre-trial investigation materials indicate that Tõnis Sildaru, acting as the child's guardian, repeatedly withdrew cash and made transfers from his daughter's bank account to himself and third parties. At the same time, the prosecutor's office has not been convinced that the money was used in the daughter's interests," Kivioja added at the time.

Then in March of this year, Tõnis Sildaru's defense lawyer, Jaanus Tehver, argued that parental custody of the family's children had at the time been shared jointly by Tõnis Sildaru and Lilian Talving, and that the transactions had been made with the approval of the whole family. According to Tehver, it had also not been proven how the money was used for the benefit of Tõnis Sildaru or any third parties.

"The Family Law Act does not apply in any way to the assets of an NGO. Since the money belonged to the NGO, Kelly Sildaru could not have suffered damages from that. The assets of an NGO may only be used to fulfill the purposes set out in its articles of association. In any case, it is excluded that the association's money could be transferred directly to Kelly — this is prohibited both by law and by the NGO's statutes," Tehver stated at the time.

Initially, Tõnis Sildaru was also suspected of physical abuse and making threats, but the pre-trial investigation did not establish concrete incidents of any violence or threats, and the prosecutor's office dropped that part of the criminal proceedings.

The Sildaru family dispute became public in the spring of 2020, when it emerged that court proceedings had been initiated to divide assets earned over the years. One side of the family dispute consisted of Tõnis and his son Henry, while the other included Kelly and her mother, Lilian.

In 2021, Kelly Sildaru told the investigative TV program "Pealtnägija" that she had been a victim of domestic violence for years.

Kelly Sildaru first came to prominence a decade ago when, at age 13, she became the youngest gold medalist at that point at a Winter X Games freestyle skiing event. Her younger sibling, Henry, 19, took silver in the halfpipe event at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics in February, Estonia's only medal at the games. Tõnis Sildaru was his coach.

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