Arthur Yermolaev, accused of telephone fraud, to repay victims €5.4 million
Arthur Yermolaev, arrested in Cyprus on suspicion of telephone fraud, has reached an agreement with the Estonian prosecutor's office. He will compensate Estonian victims with €5.4 million and will pay an additional €3.1 million to the state to cover court costs.
Arthur Yermolaev, accused of telephone fraud, to repay victims €5.4 million
Arthur Yermolaev, arrested in Cyprus at the end of last year on suspicion of telephone fraud, has reached an agreement with the Estonian prosecutor's office. Under the settlement, he will compensate identified Estonian victims with €5.4 million. In addition, the state will receive €3.1 million from him to cover court costs.
Yermolaev's criminal group operated between 2019 and 2022 and is estimated to have collected approximately €100 million in total from frauds worldwide. The damage caused in Estonia amounts to €8.5 million. Victims were also found in Finland, Lithuania, Germany and Kazakhstan.
The advantage of the settlement is that victims will receive their money back. The alternative would have been to sentence the man to a lengthy prison term, which would probably not have resulted in compensation being paid. Critics, however, raise the question of whether five months' imprisonment in Estonia adequately compensates the suffering of the victims.
Estonia was the first country to issue an Interpol arrest warrant for Yermolaev. The man was subsequently extradited to Estonia. Other countries retain the possibility of holding the offender accountable in their own legal systems in the future.
Source: PM Online
Source: Postimees