Gift coupons may indite Parbus

TALLINN- In a surprising turn of events, it may be that a 25,000 kroon travel giftcoupon may be the biggest evidence against Ivo Parbus, official of the City of Tallinn arrested on Dec.5 on corruption charges.

Daily Aripaev reports that police suspect a board member ofconstruction firm Merko to have given Parbus the coupon as a thank you for somefavorable negotiations regarding building. The company denies these reports.

However, the daily also reports that the Tallinn official was among many to receivethese travel coupons and that Merko is only one of a few companies to be usingthem as a bartering tool.

As reported earlier, Ivo Parbus, an adviser to the deputy mayor of Tallinn, was taken intocustody under suspicion of multiple accounts of bribe-taking. On Dec. 6 the Harju County Courttook Parbus into custody at the request of the Northern Circuit Prosecutor'sOffice, which, after monitoring his activities, accused the advisor ofaccepting bribes on multiple occasions. The court saw fit to arrest Parbus onthe grounds that without apprehension he may continue to engage in illegalactivity.