Fraudsters swindled defence investment centre out of nearly €60,000

Estonia’s State Defence Investment Centre lost nearly €60,000 to fraudsters in 2024, ERR reported, citing Delfi. Police ended the criminal investigation because they could not identify those responsible.

The fraud involved a fake invoice. Helena Jürgenson, an analyst in the analysis and prevention department of the Information System Authority, said such schemes often involve criminals taking over an organisation’s email account, monitoring correspondence and replacing an invoice at the right moment.

Former centre director Magnus-Valdemar Saar said he could not recall the company’s name. He said the relevant category manager and finance manager still work at the centre, and that its invoice approval process involved about six pairs of eyes even before the incident.

Current director Elmar Vaher said he learned about the case only a few days ago and did not know exactly what happened in 2024. He said police had investigated the matter and had questioned the staff involved. Vaher said he had not interviewed them himself.

Saar said he believed he had informed then-Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur about the incident. He said the centre contacted the State Support Services Centre and the ministry, notified investigators and filed a criminal complaint. The centre’s security chief made the report under his own name because he had to authenticate with an ID card, Saar said.

Saar added that the centre introduced additional invoice-processing procedures after the case.