Court hands suspended sentence to former finance minister's adviser Kersti Kracht

Kersti Kracht, Hillar Teder and Jüri Põld. Photo: Eero Vabamägi

The Estonian Harju County Court on Monday found Kersti Kracht, adviser to a former finance minister, partially guilty of corruption offenses and sentenced her to a six-month suspended prison term.

The court acquitted businessmen Hillar Teder and Toomas Tamm, and Jüri Põld, described as Teder's assistant, who had been tried alongside Kracht in the same case.

The Office of the Prosecutor General filed charges against Kracht, Teder, Tamm, and Põld in spring 2022, with the trial beginning a year later.

Kracht, who had advised then-finance minister Martin Helme, a member of the Estonian Conservative People’s Party (EKRE), was charged with three corruption-related crimes. She was accused of demanding and accepting large-scale bribes from Tamm, who in turn was charged with giving large-scale bribes.

Kracht was also accused of soliciting a large bribe from Teder, who faced charges of offering a large bribe. In connection with these actions, Teder, Kracht, and Põld were accused of conspiracy to commit money laundering, with Põld also charged with aiding and abetting large-scale bribery.

The third charge against Kracht concerned a violation of procedural restrictions involving a particularly large scope. Prosecutors said she took part in decision-making in favor of a company to which she owed money while serving as an adviser to the finance minister.

Prosecutor's office to take Kracht's case to 2nd tier court

The prosecutor's office is about to take the case of Kersti Kracht, a former adviser to the Estonian minister of finance accused of corruption crimes, to the circuit court, as it does not agree with the acquittal of some of the defendants.

Chief State Prosecutor Taavi Pern said in his comments on the verdict on Monday that no official may make decisions in their own interests or in the interests of people associated with them, or abuse their power to gain advantage or do someone a favor.

«The decisions of officials must be honest, transparent and based on public interests. With today's decision, the court confirmed that Kersti Kracht did not follow these expectations in the performance of her duties related to the law firm TGS Baltic,» Pern said.

He also said that the prosecution does not agree with the court's reasoning regarding the acquittal of the defendants.

«We believe that, contrary to the court's opinion, a conclusion could have been reached -- taking into account all the evidence examined in court -- that the defendants committed the crimes they were accused of,» the chief state prosecutor said.

He pointed out that proceedings related to corruption crimes have become increasingly complex in Estonia.

«After reviewing the court's decision, the prosecution's initial position is that the court has not considered all the nuances of this case, and we will certainly seek a higher court's opinion on this matter,» Pern added.