Norway Police Search Fredrikstad Headquarters, Arrest 2
Norwegian police today searched the offices of FK Fredrikstad - the former club of Estonian football player Raio Piiroja - and arrested two of the club's former bosses, according to the Norwegian public broadcaster and other media reports. Police also requested that Piiroja provide a statement.
The former heads of Fredrikstad, Morgan Andersen and Bjorn Jensen, were both connected to the club's contract with Piiroja, who is under investigation in Norway for tax evasion. Andersen, a former hockey player, has previously been convicted for fraud, after which he resigned from his position as director of Fredrikstad in 2008.
The tax board seized Piiroja's Norwegian assets in November, and the man is now awaiting questioning with police. Last week, the authorities notified that Estonian footballers Enar Jääger, Sander Post, Pavel Londak, Aleksandr Dmitrjev and Alo Bärengrub - all of whom have played for Norwegian clubs - are also under investigation.
Piiroja's former club in Norway, Fredrikstad, paid roughly 77,000 euros to an Estonian agency, Sport and Net Grupp, for scouting new players in the Baltics. At the same time, the Estonian club FC Flora - the parent company of the aforementioned agency - paid Piiroja a scholarship of 77,000 euros. This is suspected as a hidden bonus by the tax authorities, however, because scholarships are exempt from the income and social tax in Estonia.
Ott Tammik