Avo Viiol

Avo Viiol (born 1958), sometimes also spelled as Aavo Viiol, is a former head of Estonian Culture Fund and a famous Estonian embezzler.

Between December 1999 and August 2002, Viiol, then working as head of the Estonian Culture Fund, embezzled the Fund of 8 510 910 EEK, sometimes by forging expense documents, and caused 17 868 EEK of damages through unnecessary cash advance fees. On 14 August 2002, Estonian Defence Police arrested Viiol after the Estonian Ministry of Culture had detected suspicious activity regarding management of the Fund's assets. On 7 January 2003, the Tallinn City Court convicted Viiol of official forgery and grand embezzlement using the simple trial procedure (Estonian: lihtmenetlus). Viiol was sentenced to two years and eight months of imprisonment, then released prematurely in February 2004.

Use of embezzled funds

According to Viiol, he lost most of the embezzled funds through playing in casinos, being a compulsive gambler. Ironically, a significant share of the Fund's resources comes from the gambling tax.

Political ramifications

Viiol's conviction led to resignation of Signe Kivi, then Estonian Minister of Culture.

Repayment

Viiol has made repeated promises to repay his embezzled funds and has refused to apply for personal bankruptcy. However, lacking major sources of income, it's unlikely he repays a significant part of them, and the Estonian Culture Fund has classified its claims against Viiol as unlikely. During the five years since his release, Viiol has repaid a total of 23 382 EEK; assuming the same average payment rate, the debt would take about 1820 years, or until 3824, to repay.

Neologism

In the public discussion over Viiol's exploits, the neologism viioldama, a verb form of Viiol's name, has become a noted slang word for embezzlement.[1] The word is similar to viiuldama, which means to play a violin.

Sources

References
  1. Estonian Slang Dictionary maintained by Estonian Language Institute: entry #37 to steal
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