The leader of the fundraising portal toeta.me, Henri Laupmaa, has so far transferred almost two-thirds, or 139,000 euros, of the money donated to Ukraine through the portal. Almost 86 thousand euros are still missing.
According to the agreement signed with the leaders of the donation campaign, Laupmaa was supposed to transfer all the campaign money already by October 23, that is, almost two months ago. However, of the 225,000 euros collected via the toeta.me portal, almost a third, or 86,000 euros, has not yet been transferred.
Roy Strider, the campaign leader, said Laupmaa is transferring money piece by piece to the drone company Threod Systems. A week and a half ago the drone company received 9,000 euros and a few weeks before another 10,000 euros.
According to Strider, only God and Henri Laupmaa know when the rest of the sum will arrive. “We obviously want to receive the donation money as soon as possible. It’s unfortunate that the whole process has been dragged out like this,” Strider said.
Laupmaa declined to comment on the matter Friday.
Strider said that with the money received from Laupmaa, Threod Systems has already attached a dozen GPS anti-jamming devices to its drones. According to the drone company Strider, these drones have already been sent to Ukraine.
As Laupmaa receives the money, devices that prevent interference with the GPS signal will gradually be purchased for the drones. In total, 21 drones sent to Ukraine are expected to receive such devices.
“It is very good that these drones, despite all the evidence, are now flying under the sky of Ukraine. Estonia is at the top of the world in this field right now, it’s amazing what we have produced in our country. This drone it fits in the backseat of a car and if it doesn’t take off or land, you basically can’t hear them flying overhead,” Strider said.
The fundraiser raised money for the purchase of 21 GPS anti-jamming devices from the Estonian company Threod Systems. The company plans to connect them to its drones, which will be shipped to Ukraine. Such devices extend the life of front-line drones and help repel Russian electronic warfare assets.
The Northern District Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal case in mid-September to verify information that the amount raised during the charity project on the online donation platform toeta.me was illegally misappropriated.
Anneli Masing, district attorney of the Northern District Prosecutor’s Office, said at the time that the Police and Border Guard Committee brought suspicions of large-scale asset misappropriation to both the nonprofit organization that operates the platform toeta.me, the Infographics and Ergonomics Institute and its sole board member, Henri Laupmaa.
In addition to musician and writer Roy Strider, Riigikogu members Eerik-Niiles Kross and Juku-Kalle Raid led the drone campaign, among others.
2023-12-30 05:17:00
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