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A LEADING British privatisation consultancy is being blamed in Estonia over a controversial rail sell-off.
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Gibb Limited is facing demands to repay its £1.75 million fee after the arrest of one investor and the discovery that a key figure in the deal is a fugitive swindler.
Among the criticisms is that the privatisation winner, Rail Estonia, recommended by Gibb, had at its helm a man called Tony Massei, whose real identity is Antonio Angotti, convicted in 1995 in America for money laundering and fraud.
Senior Estonian figures said Gibb had failed adequately to vet the applicants for the first rail sell-off in the former Soviet Union, which has now collapsed.
They complained that there was no strategic owner and a lack of clear financial guarantees, despite the Gibb recommendation.
There was a further outcry when Rail Estonia brought in Sicilian investor Giovanni Sposato, who had homes in Moscow and Colombia. He offered a huge cash injection of Russian money.
Sposato has since been arrested in the Estonian capital Tallinn on charges of setting fire to two cars belonging to the parents of his girlfriend.
Estonian MP Liina Tnisson said: 'The sum was paid for conducting the privatisation process and background studies of the tender participants, but it is clear now that the money was wasted and should be reclaimed by the Estonian state.'
The row over the privatisation has erupted into a major political scandal in the Baltic state over why Gibb was awarded the contract despite bidding three times more than the most favourable tender. Now there are strong political demands for Gibb to repay its fee.
Gibb director Tony King said: 'These allegations are nonsense. I cannot say anything because the whole matter is confidential.'
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