National police chief to remain in office despite expenses scandal
Estonian Interior Minister Hanno Pevkur said on Thursday that he is not planning to release from office the director general of the Police and Border Guard Board, Elmar Vaher.
"Based on information collected so far it can be seen that although the director general of the Police and Border Guard Board has breached some reporting requirements and some expenses are questionable, Elmar Vaher deserves the chance to continue in the position," Pevkur said.
Pevkur said that he invited Vaher to a meeting on Thursday morning to provide additional explanations and listened to the initial conclusions of the internal audit.
According to Pevkur, Vaher has to draw conclusions from the incident and reconsider his conduct, but the breaches are not serious enough to release him from office.
According to the minister, the audit showed that Vaher's conduct and his reporting were flawed, but he has done a good job in the Police and Border Guard Board.
The Interior Ministry carried out an extraordinary audit regarding the credit card use of Vaher. Result of the audit showed that the expenses that were made were connected to the main activity's of the organization, although the necessity of some of these is questionable.