"Evidence of a possible crime turned up in the process of collecting evidence in misdemeanor proceedings," said Olgerd Petersell, district prosecutor at the District Prosecutor's Office for Economic Crime and Corruption.

"As law enforcement agencies are obliged to collect evidence within the type of proceedings to which the evidence points, the Central Criminal Police in cooperation with the Prosecutor's Office on April 19 requalified the misdemeanor proceedings as criminal proceedings," he explained.

The district prosecutor said that the criminal proceedings are being conducted pursuant to the section of the Penal Code on fraud.

"Proceedings are being led by the District Prosecutor's Office for Economic Crime and Corruption and conducted by the Central Criminal Police," he specified. "No suspicions have been brought against anyone."

Laanet told ERR on Tuesday that law enforcement agencies have not spoken with him, and that he has nothing to comment on.

On March 16, investigative weekly Eesti Ekspress reported (link in Estonian) that Kalle Laanet had both during his then-current term as minister of justice as well as previously as defense minister rented an apartment in Tallinn from his spouse's son and had the expenses reimbursed by the state.

Later that same evening, Laanet resigned as minister of justice.

The revelation leading to Laanet's resignation as minister had been preceded by a publicized dispute between Laanet and Prosecutor General Andres Parmas a week prior, in which the latter accused Laanet of interfering in the work of the Prosecutor's Office. Parmas and Laanet himself both admitted that the minister had pressured Parmas to resign as prosecutor general.

Both as defense minister from 2021-2022 and as justice minister since 2023, Laanet had requested and received rent reimbursement totaling, over his two different terms as minister, more than €12,000.

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