Avo Viiol (sometimes also spelled as Aavo Viiol; born 5 August 1958) is a former head of and a famous

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

embezzler Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

. Between December 1999 and August 2002, Viiol, then working as head of the Estonian Culture Fund, embezzled the Fund of 8,510,910

EEK Eek or EEK may refer to: People * Karl Morten Eek (born 1988), Norwegian footballer * Maria Magdalena Eek (1733–1800), Finnish pastry chef Places * Eek, Alaska * Eek Airport, Alaska * Eek River, Alaska Other uses * Estonian kroon, a form ...

, sometimes by forging expense documents, and caused 17,868

of damages through unnecessary cash advance fees. On 14 August 2002,

Estonian Internal Security Service The Estonian Internal Security Service ( et, Kaitsepolitsei, officially et, Kaitsepolitseiamet, KaPo for short) is a central national security institution of Republic of Estonia. Its purposes are centered on enforcing constitutional order. Th ...

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 Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in t ...

convicted Viiol of official

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...

and grand

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

using the ''simple trial procedure'' ( et, lihtmenetlus). Viiol was sentenced to two years and eight months of

imprisonment Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...

, then released prematurely in February 2004.

Use of embezzled funds

According to Viiol, he lost most of the embezzled funds through playing in

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

s, being a

compulsive gambler Problem gambling or ludomania is repetitive gambling behavior despite harm and negative consequences. Problem gambling may be diagnosed as a mental disorder according to ''DSM-5'' if certain diagnostic criteria are met. Pathological gambling is ...

. 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 Signe Kivi (born 24 February 1957 in Tallinn) is an Estonian textile artist and politician. She has been a member of the IX, X and XIV Riigikogu. From 1999 to 2002 she was the Minister of Culture. In 1980 she graduated from the Estonian Academ ...

, 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 A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...

form of Viiol's name, has become a noted

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...

word for embezzlement.Estonian Slang Dictionary maintained by Estonian Language Institute
entry #37 ''to steal''
/ref> The word is similar to ''viiuldama'', which means ''to play a

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

''.

Sources

* Postimees 20 January 2004
Hasartmängur Avo Viiol pääseb vanglast kümne päeva pärast
*

Baltic Times ''The Baltic Times'' is an independent monthly newspaper that covers the latest political, economic, business, and cultural events in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The paper was formed from a merger in 1996 of the ''Baltic Independent'' and '' ...

1 November 2004
Diary of a notorious gambling fiend
by Andrei Tuch * SL Õhtuleht 23 October 2007
Riisumine viis vanglasse
* SL Õhtuleht 23 October 2007
Avo Viioli hiigelvõla tagasimaksed kultuurkapitalile kuivavad kokku
* Õhtuleht 2 December 2008
Avo Viiol pole tänavu tagasi maksnud sentigi
*

Eesti Ekspress ''Eesti Ekspress'' (''Estonian Express'') is an Estonian weekly newspaper. Founded in 1989, ''Eesti Ekspress'' was the first politically independent newspaper in the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic during the Soviet control of Estonia. Th ...

25 March 2009
KOLM MEEST, kes miljonikahju kunagi ei hüvita: Simm, Tinn ja Viiol
by Askur Alas

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viiol, Avo Estonian criminals 1958 births Living people People convicted of embezzlement People convicted of forgery