25th Anniversary of Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit

• Mart Võrklaev

  Minister of Finance of Estonia

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• Arnold Tenusaar

  Head of the FIU during 1999–2004, AML expert

Arnold Tenusaar graduated from Tartu State University in 1974 with a degree in applied mathematics and worked in various positions at the Information Center of the Ministry of the Interior until 1998. In 1991, he completed his law studies at the Academy of the Ministry of the Interior of the USSR, after which he actively participated in the re-establishment of the Estonian police. In 1992, Arnold became the first Head of Interpol's Estonian National Central Bureau, and in 1994-1999 he performed the duties of Deputy Head of the same agency. In 1999, he continued in the police as the first Head of the Financial Intelligence Unit until 2004, and after that he remained in the FIU to advise younger colleagues until July 1, 2023.

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• Raul Vahtra

  Head of the FIU during 2004–2012, Member of the Management Board of Swedbank, Head of Anti-Financial Crime Division

Raul Vahtra worked in the police for a total of 26 years, including as an investigator of organized crime, eight years as Head of the Financial Intelligence Unit and seven years as Head of Internal Control. Raul has also been an expert of Moneyval and participated in the evaluation of three countries, as well as participated as an expert of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) in the evaluation of one country. For the past four years, Raul has been working at Swedbank, where he is responsible for the field of financial crime prevention. Despite 30 years of experience, crime prevention continues to be Raul's passion and he considers himself an enthusiast of the field.

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• Aivar Paul

  Head of the FIU during 2013–2016, AML expert at Wallester 

Aivar's career began in 1995 as a criminal cases investigator at the Central Criminal Police. He then went to the newly established FIU by the invitation of the first Head of the FIU, Arnold Tenusaar. In 2001, Aivar went to work for Hansapank (Swedbank), where he was as an AML specialist, led the AML and fraud division and the bank's internal control unit. From 2013 to 2016, Aivar was the Head of the FIU. The fourth round of Moneyval evaluations and the beginning of Danske's investigation took place during his tenure. Aivar was a Moneyval expert and evaluated the AML systems of other countries. At the beginning of 2016, Aivar took up the position of Head of AML department in LHV bank. During his banking career, Aivar has led the AML department committee in the Estonian Banking Association for both Swedbank and LHV. Now, Aivar is a board member responsible for AML in AS Wallester, a payment institution offering card payment services.

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• Madis Reimand

  Head of the FIU during 2016–2020, AML and Sanctions Consultant

Before working at the Financial Intelligence Unit, he led the legal office of the police for six years and the police personnel- and internal control units for seven years. He has previous experience as an investigator of corruption crimes. After leaving the FIU, he became the Head of SEB's anti-money laundering compliance control department and currently works as a consultant in the field of anti-money laundering and sanctions.

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• Graham Barrow

  Podcaster (“The Dark Money Files”) and financial crime investigator

Graham has worked in financial services for the past twenty-five years, mainly providing subject matter expertise in respect of global financial crime as well as in-depth research on UK company formations. Latterly, he has become well known as one half of “The Dark Money Files” podcast, alongside his business partner and longstanding veteran of anti-financial crime, Ray Blake. Graham is one of the founders of Risk Alert 247 Limited, which provides real time corporate risk ratings to a variety of UK financial institutions. Graham regularly speaks at events to raise awareness of the close links between financial crime, the organised criminal gangs, and corrupt individuals, who are responsible for much of the dirty money entering the financial system, most particularly with respect to the UK companies, which are often at their heart.

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• Sami Sillanpää

  Investigative journalist at Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat

Sami Sillanpää is an investigative journalist at the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. He has 25 years of experience in reporting global security issues, such as conflicts, authoritarian regimes, and terrorism. Lately his reporting has focused on the Russian war in Ukraine, oligarchs, sanctions evasion and small arms trade.

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• Holger Roonemaa

  Head of Investigative Editorial Board at Delfi Meedia

Holger Roonemaa is the head of Delfi Meedia's investigative and fact-checking editorial and editor of the investigative journalism publication OCCRP. He is a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). As a journalist, Roonemaa has focused on investigating money laundering and other financial crimes, topics of Estonian and European security, and Russian intelligence and influence activities. Roonemaa is a three-time laureate of the Bonnier Award for Investigative Journalism and has twice been selected as Estonian Journalist of the Year.

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• Tomas Sindelar

  Deputy Head of Sanctions Division at European External Action Service

Since September 2023, Tomas has been the Deputy Head of the Sanctions Division at the European External Action Service (EEAS) overseeing the policy design and review of the EU’s restrictive measures. Prior to joining the EEAS, he served as the Czech Foreign Relations (RELEX) Counsellor to the EU and the Chair of the RELEX Working Party in 2022. He previously spent seven years at NATO – on its International Staff (Political Affairs and Security Policy Division), as well as at the Czech Permanent Delegation. Tomas is a graduate of the Prague School of Economics and an alumnus of Sciences Po Paris.

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• Oliver Phelan 

  Baltics Sanctions Attaché, British Embassy Riga

Oliver Phelan is a UK sanctions officer at the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office. Based in Riga, he works across the three Baltic countries delivering on the objectives of the UK Economic Deterrence Initiative. The EDI is a £50m programme announced by the UK Prime Minister in 2022 to improve the effectiveness of UK and international sanctions.

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Amanda Miralrio Murray
REPO Task Force Coordinator at U.S. Department of the Treasury

Amanda Miralrio Murray is the Coordinator of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s REPO Task Force. The Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) Task Force is a multilateral task force leveraging each member jurisdiction’s respective authorities to collect and share information to take concrete actions, including sanctions, asset freezing, and civil and criminal asset seizure, and criminal prosecution. Amanda previously served as the Acting Deputy Special Envoy for Iran at the State Department where she helped secure the release of five unjustly detained Americans from Iran. Amanda began her career in the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Compliance Division, and has served in various roles focused on sanctions, illicit finance, and foreign policy at the U.S. Treasury and State Departments.