New MP Madison in trouble again, this time for minor embezzlement
Conservative People's Party MP Jaak Madison has been fined 100 euros for selling a lost smart phone while working on a ferry, instead of reporting it to the company.
Madison narrowly escaped criminal charges, which would have kicked the 23-year-old MP-elect out of the Parliament, Eesti Päevaleht reported. Had police finished the investigation last year, Madison would have received a criminal conviction, as the law changed on January 1, making any case with damages less than 200 euros (it was 64 euros in 2014) a misdemeanor case, not a criminal one.
The incident happened last summer on a ferry when Madison, working behind an information desk in the ship, was handed a lost iPhone, which he then proceeded to sell online a few months later. According to the ferry company's regulations, he should have notified the company and handed the phone over to its lost and found department.
Police found the buyer of the phone, who said Madison was the seller.
In an official statement sent to the press this morning, Madison admitted to breaking the law, but said he only tried to save the phone from being destroyed by the company, adding that he did no harm.
Madison also received a lot of media attentions shortly after securing a place in the Parliament, as journalists uncovered a blog post from 2012, in which he defended the economic aspects of the Nazi regime in Germany. His party initially defended him, but later condemned the post.
Editor: J.M. Laats