2010-08-10

Rich Estonians who invested in the real estate of the Black Sea seaside resort in Varna, Bulgaria, with hopes of fat profits, were scammed by the local Chechen criminal gang, according to story supported by Journalismfund.eu.

By Brigitte Alfter

“Three to four years ago life in Estonia was beautiful – the economy was expanding and the real estate boom promised bigger riches. Free funds were itching in Estonians’ pockets,” writes Piret Reiljan in her article about Estonian investors being trapped by Chechen gangs. Tourist palaces and other property in the Bulgarian Black Sea resort of Varna were at the centre of a property scam involving Estonia, Bulgaria and Northern Caucasus republics.

This is the second and last series of stories Reiljan did using her grant of Journalismfund.eu and in cooperation with Bulgarian colleagues.

In 2009 Piret Reiljan and her colleague Koit Brinkmann from Estonian business daily Äripäev in Tallinn had heard rumours about a large money laundering scheme in Estonia and several other countries. In order to pursue their idea in spite of problems with different languages and business legislations in different countries they turned to Journalismfund.eu and received a grant of €2550.

When they started to investigate they initially found over illegal party funding and their articles caused a change of the law. The next articles in the series unveiled a pyramid-style funding scheme with consequences for the Estonian company involved.

The current articles about " Estonians trapped by the Chechens" is the last in the series supported by Journalismfund.eu. Read about the previous articles and the cooperation with the Bulgarian colleagues.

Project: Money Laundering in Estonia.

Pre-application sessions for potential applicants - grants journalists

Questions? In-house assistance to better prepare your application

2024-03-07

BRUSSELS - Let us walk you through your application to increase your chances of getting funded.