Former Head of Danske Bank's Estonian Branch Found Dead -- 2nd Update
September 25 2019 - 11:38AM
Dow Jones News
By Dominic Chopping and Patricia Kowsmann
STOCKHOLM -- An executive who led the bank branch at the center
of a $230 billion money-laundering scandal in Estonia has been
found dead in a suspected suicide.
Aivar Rehe, the 56-year-old former chief executive of Danske
Bank's Estonia branch, had been missing since Monday morning when
he left his home in Tallinn on foot. His family raised an alarm and
search teams had been looking for him since.
Danske is being investigated by authorities in the U.S.,
Estonia, Denmark and France for allegedly facilitating the
laundering of about $230 billion by non-Estonians -- primarily
Russians -- through its branch in Tallinn between 2007 and 2015.
Despite being warned of possible wrongdoing at the branch for
years, including by a whistleblower in 2014, the bank only
disclosed the problems in 2017 under pressure from news
reports.
The bank has acknowledged it reacted "too late and slowly."
Several officers who worked in both the branch and the Danish
headquarters of Danske Bank have been named as suspects in separate
investigations in Estonia and Denmark. Estonia's prosecutors'
office said Mr. Rehe wasn't a suspect in its continuing criminal
investigation.
Estonian Police and Border Guard Board spokeswoman Tuuli Härson
said Mr. Rehe's body was found Wednesday morning close to his
home.
"There are no signs of violence on the body, and there is no
indication of an accident," a police statement said. The case is
being treated as suicide, a person familiar with the investigation
said.
Mr. Rehe headed the Danish bank's branch in Estonia between 2006
and 2015.
In an interview with Estonian newspaper Postimees in March, Mr.
Rehe said he believed the bank had proper money-laundering controls
and checks in place.
Asked if he felt any responsibility, he added: "Of course I
feel. Naturally. I have led the bank [for] 10 years, these were my
people. All the 500 people, naturally."
Danske Bank said, "We are saddened to learn of the death of
Aivar Rehe, the former head of our Estonian branch."
The scandal has erased more than 60% of the stock-market value
of Denmark's largest bank and forced the resignation of its star
chief executive last year. It has also tarred the reputation of the
country, often ranked among the world's most transparent.
Transfer of illicit money out of Russia particularly through
countries in the Baltic region into Europe has been of particular
concern to U.S. authorities, given part of the laundered money
often ends up in the U.S.
The Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange
Commission are investigating Danske's money-laundering allegations
following a complaint made by the whistleblower years ago that also
identified Deutsche Bank AG, which is supervised by U.S.
regulators, for processing U.S. dollar transactions for Danske's
Estonian branch as a correspondent bank.
On Wednesday, Frankfurt prosecutors searched Deutsche Bank's
headquarters in Germany for Danske-related documents.
"Deutsche Bank has comprehensively examined the facts of the
matter and has voluntarily provided the requested documents as far
as possible," the bank said.
Maris Hellrand in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this
article.
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com and
Patricia Kowsmann at patricia.kowsmann@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 25, 2019 11:23 ET (15:23 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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