Son of Businessman Yermolaiev, Wounded in Monaco, Convicted Over Fraudulent Call-Center Network

On April 30, Harju County Court in Estonia convicted Artur Yermolaiev and approved a sentence of five years’ probation. In addition, he paid €8.5 million and was banned from entering Estonia for 10 years, after which he left the country.

The sentence of four years, seven months and four days will not be enforced if, during the five-year probationary period, Yermolaiev does not commit a new crime and does not violate the entry ban.

The funds he paid will be directed to residents of Estonia who suffered from the activities of fraudulent call centers.

According to the investigation, since 2017 Yermolaiev, together with three other men, created and oversaw a network of offices in Ukraine that specialized in fraudulent calls.

The investigation says Yermolaiev was involved in creating and financing companies, as well as organizing the work of call centers. These structures provided office premises and other services that were used for fraudulent schemes from 2017 to 2022.

According to media reports, more than 150 centers with 10,000–15,000 operators were under the control of Yermolaiev and his father, while fraud revenues amounted to millions of euros a year.

The investigation established that victims were offered fictitious investment opportunities by phone. In this way, more than €100 million was extracted from them between 2019 and 2022, including about €5.4 million from residents of Estonia.

Artur Yermolaiev had been in custody since December 4, 2025, after being detained in Cyprus at Interpol’s request while attempting to fly to Dubai.

According to media reports, after transferring the funds to the prosecutor’s office deposit account, Yermolaiev flew from Tallinn’s VIP terminal to Tel Aviv on a private jet.