The former head of Danske Bank’s Estonian subsidiary, which is at the heart of the vast money-laundering scandal, was found dead on Wednesday after disappearing from his home on Monday, Estonian police reported.
Aivar Rehe’s body was found near his home, the police said in a statement on Wednesday. “This place had been checked earlier by his family. The body has no signs of violence, neither does anything point to an accident.” The police said no more details would be provided, out of courtesy to the family.
In an interview with Estonian public broadcaster given on the day he went missing, police said they feared his life was in danger. “However, the danger is himself,” they said.
Denmark, Estonia, Britain, France and the United States are investigating 200 billion euros worth of possibly suspicious transactions made via the Estonian division of Denmark’s largest bank, mainly from Russia and several former Soviet republics, between 2007 and 2015.
Aivar Rehe, who led the Estonian branch of Danske bank during that time, was a witness in the money laundering investigation, but was not considered a suspect.
The Danish bank suspended its operations in Estonia in February this year following the scandal, while investigations are continuing in other countries.
In February the Estonian prosecutor’s office announced it was investigating whether Sweden’s Swedbank was also involved in suspicious deals with Danske Bank.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, German authorities announced that they have raided Deutsche Bank’s Frankfurt headquarters in search of information related to the Danske Bank scandal, according to reporting in Reuters.
Rehe had tried to stay out of public attention after resigning from his position in September 2015.
Previously, Mr. Rehe was director general of Estonia’s Tax and Customs Board He later worked for another Estonian lender, Bigbank before moving to Danske Bank, according to the Postimes newspaper in Tallinn.
