Corruption, Estonia, Financial Services, Legislation, Markets and Companies, Real Estate

The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it left the decision made by the circuit court on Nov. 13 unchanged, the court decision states.

The judgment in the case that has been described as one of the first private sector corruption cases tried by a court in Estonia was upheld by an appellate court in November. The second tier court, however, annulled a conclusion of the first tier court not arising from the statement of charges.

According to the verdict, Jarvet together with a colleague demanded the builder of the vocational education center of East-Viru county for a bribe of 50,000 euros for accepting the reconstruction works without complications.

The construction company notified law enforcement, and the first tier court court subsequently handed down a conditional sentence of three years and four months to Jarvet for soliciting a bribe, instigation of document falsification and handling narcotic substances. In addition, Jarvet was prohibited to engage in business for three years.

The circuit court dropped from the verdict a conclusion not contained in the charge sheet, which stated that the accused never even planned to perform the functions he was contracted for, but allowed the remainder of the verdict to stand, court spokesperson Anneli Vilu told BNS at the time.