User:MeelisLao/sandbox

= Meelis Lao = Meelis Lao (born April 10, 1966) is an Estonian businessman who has been considered one of the leaders of the Estonian underworld.

Criminal Background
In 1988, Harju County Court sentenced Meelis Lao to a suspended prison term for unlawfully taking away someone's freedom.

On December 13, 1995, Lao was shot in the chest with an AK-47 in front of the Flexer sports club on Tartu Road in Tallinn. He suffered severe injuries in a bomb explosion at the same location on March 4, 1997.

In 1997, the Helsinki District Court sentenced him to an eight-month suspended prison term for smuggling 18,000 liters of spirits into Finland.

During the 2000s, Estonian media linked Meelis Lao with Konstantin “Mogila” Jakovlev, an authoritative figure in St. Petersburg's organized crime, who was allegedly closely associated with Lao in the fuel transit business.

Business Activities
Meelis Lao is the owner of the fruit wholesale company Megaviljad.

He, along with Jüri Mõis, Even Tudeberg, Hannes Tamjärv, and Toomas Sildmäe, co-founded the transit company AS Meta-Eks, which operated in the fuel transit business using approximately 1550 railway tankers until 2008.

Political Involvement
In 2001, it was revealed that Meelis Lao, a close friend of Tallinn Mayor Jüri Mõis at the time, was identified by the FBI as a representative of St. Petersburg's organized crime in Estonia. Despite these allegations, Lao became involved in Estonian politics, actively fighting to maintain the Tallinn ruling coalition.

In 2001, Eesti Päevaleht reported documents in its possession indicating that Mayor Jüri Mõis played a role in Lao's influence in the illegal construction of the Seaplane Harbour area.

Legal Issues
In 2005, Meelis Lao faced charges of trespassing in a McDonald's restaurant in Viru Street, preventing its opening. In 2008, he and the company ML Investments Group were found guilty of tax evasion amounting to 6.9 million Estonian kroons.

In 2009, Lao was charged with a serious breach of public order with violence near the BonBon nightclub in Tallinn. He was initially fined but later acquitted by the Tallinn Court of Appeals.

In 2019, Lao reached an agreement with the State Prosecutor's Office, and the court replaced an eight-month prison sentence with 238 hours of community service for his involvement in aiding an unlawful deprivation of liberty.

In December 2020, the State Prosecutor's Office sent a case to court, accusing Meelis Lao and three others of illegal handling of firearms and ammunition, as well as arson of a vehicle.

Personal Life
Meelis Lao has been studying social work at the University of Tartu Open University since 2009.

He is a former Estonian junior karate champion and won the bronze medal in heavyweight boxing at the Estonian SSR boxing championships.

Lao is divorced (from his ex-wife Ave) and has three children.