- Mari Aid
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Mari Aid, born in 1986,[1] primarily known through her OÜ Trendshop which operated the Tsiigu and Sheldwelt web stores of baby equipment, is an infamous shady Estonian businesswoman and, since 7 March 2008, a suspect in fraud.[1][2][3]
Contents
Cellphone discount affair
In 2005, Mari Aid and Sulev Kits employed various people to buy discounted cellphones from cellphone operators and hand them over, promising to pay their subscription costs and instalment payments by themselves. However, they neglected those payments, leading to cellphone operators attempting to collect the debts according to the contracts, and in the process almost bankrupting an unemployed housewife who had bought 12 cellphones under the arrangement.[4] Police began investigating the case under suspicion of fraud, but the case was closed when, during investigation, Aid and Kits paid the debts.[2]
Tsiigu and Sheldwelt
Main article: TsiiguTsiigu was a web-based baby equipment vendor run by Mari Aid. Unusually among Estonian web-based stores, it required its customers to pay in advance in full—a practice not permitted by Estonia's consumer protection law. When the Consumer Protection Agency intervened, the advance payment requirement was cut to 50%, the maximum allowed by the law. However, since middle 2007, it became routine for customers to never receive their goods, nor, even after multiple requests, to get their money back. Media interest was piqued by Aid's unusual and weird statements, such as claiming that the company's illiquidity is a result of evil (but unnamed) competitors' sabotage.
In March 2008, police requested Zone Media, the ISP hosting Trendshop's web stores, to shut them down in prevention of further crime. The ISP complied, and the stores were taken down.
The 'virtual complaint book' ran by Tarbija24, a consumer news portal operated by Postimees, gathered rapidly more than 1000 posts under the topic of Tsiigu and Mari Aid.[2]
Post-Tsiigu activities
After Trendshop's web activities were shut down, Aid attempted to sell goods (mainly imported from Germany) under the same scheme through other venues, particularly perekool.ee, a website oriented towards communication between parents of newborns, and osta.ee, an auction service. She commonly asked for advance payments, and often did not deliver the goods nor returned the payment. As a result of this practice, the Harju County Court arrested Aid on 9 May 2008 to further prevent further crimes.[1][3]
Charge
Aid's charge was finalised on 18 September 2008.[3] According to the prosecutor, Aid caused 284 006 EEK (about 18 070 EUR) of documented damages through fraud.
References
- ^ a b c Postimees 16 May 2008: Kohus vahistas klientide petmises kahtlustatava Mari Aidi by Marina Lohk
- ^ a b c Postimees 3 April 2008 11:44 Kliendid tellitud kaubata jätnud Mari Aid kuulutati kuriteos kahtlustatavaks by Marina Lohk
- ^ a b c Postimees 1 October 2008 11:37 Lõplik kahtlustus: Mari Aid tekitas pea 300 000 krooni kahju by Marina Lohk
- ^ Pärnu Postimees 18 March 2005 Mobiiltelefonide järelmaksu kampaania teenib petuskeemi by Andres Reimer
Categories:- Crime in Estonia
- Estonian businesspeople
- 1986 births
- Living people
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