Former CEO of Dankse Bank’s Estonian Branch Found Dead

Sept. 26, 2019 (EIRNS)—Estonian police found the body of Aivar Rehe in not far from his home on Sept. 25, two days after he had disappeared. The body was found after a search operation was launched involving sniffer dogs, drones and volunteers, around Rehe’s home near the capital, Tallinn.

The disappearance of the former head of Danske Bank’s Estonian operations had fueled speculation about links to a 2007-2015 money-laundering scandal that engulfed the bank. However, police had said earlier that no third parties were suspected in his disappearance. Estonian media suggested that everything at the scene where the 56-year-old was found points to death by suicide.

In Estonia, police last year detained ten former employees of the bank who were later charged with money laundering. However, Rehe was apparently not considered to be a suspect in the case. In an interview with the Estonian newspaper Postimees in March, Rehe said he had believed the bank’s mechanisms to prevent money laundering were adequate at the time. Despite this, he said, he felt responsible.