Security Services Arrest Two Kohtla-Järve Councilmen
Juri and Jevgeni Saltõkov, father and son councilmen of Kohtla-Järve, Estonia's fifth largest city, were arrested on Monday on suspicion of embezzlement by the Internal Security Service.
The men employed a number of phantom staff at a youth center in Kohtla-Järve, and withdrew the salaries for their own use, Jelena Filippova, the spokesman for the Viru District Prosecutor's Office, told Delfi today.
Besides the two councilmen are part of a Center Party government in the city, where the party won 83 percent of all votes at the local elections last year. Investigators said there are other suspects.
Kohtla-Järve major Jevgeni Solovjov said security service officials took city documents with them on Monday, with Delfi saying the rooms of the city-financed youth center in question were also searched.
Son on trial for hitting police
Jevgeni Saltõkov has a change of hitting a police officer hanging over him from two years ago. Filippova told rus.err.ee today that he allegedly hit a policeman in Jõhvi at the end of November in 2012.
The police officer was on duty and in uniform. Saltõkov is not allowed to leave the country and could face up to five years in prison, if found guilty.