Ski coach father of Kelly Sildaru to appeal embezzlement judgment

The coach father of freestyle ski star Kelly Sildaru says he is appealing a court ruling which found him guilty of embezzlement, Delfi reported.

The first-tier Harju County Court on Tuesday last week found Tõnis Sildaru, 44, guilty of embezzling his daughter Kelly's assets over a period of several years, handing him a suspended prison sentence of two years.

Tõnis Sildaru has filed a notice of appeal, while his defense lawyer has stated an intention to exercise the right to appeal. Court spokesperson Siim Saavik told Delfi the appeal must be submitted within 30 days of receiving the full written judgment. The complete text of the ruling will become available on June 29.

District Prosecutor Leelet Kivioja said if the case is appealed, proceedings can no longer be terminated on the grounds of expediency.

This option, which is done when pursuing a case to a full trial is disproportionate, serves no significant public interest, or when a faster resolution serves justice more effectively, was offered to Sildaru ahead of the trial, but he declined to take it.

The Harju County Court on May 26 ruled that Tõnis Sildaru unlawfully appropriated funds belonging to Kelly and earned via her freestyle skiing career, now 24, while she was a minor, principally between 2014 and 2019.

Prosecutors said he withdrew over €550,000 in cash from Kelly's account and transferred the bulk of that, over €400,000, into his own account. According to the charges, the total amount improperly appropriated reached €1.02 million, including payments to third parties.

Kelly Sildaru had sought €211,207 in damages; the court ordered Tõnis Sildaru and MTÜ Kelly ja Henry Sildaru Suusaklubi, an NGO, to pay that amount.

Funds worth over €211,000 frozen in the ski club's account will remain seized until the compensation is paid.

Tõnis Sildaru must also pay a state fee, cover Kelly's legal costs of a little over €95,000, and bear his own defense costs of over €81,000.

The case stemmed from a long-running family dispute that became public in 2020; allegations of physical abuse and threats were investigated but later dropped due to insufficient evidence.

Kelly Sildaru first burst onto the freestyle skiing scene a decade ago when she won the X Games in Aspen, Colorado; she went on to take bronze at the previous Winter Olympics in Beijing. Her younger brother, Henry, 19, is also a freestyle skier and took Estonia's sole medal at February's Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, a silver in the halfpipe event.