Corona supports Police suspect: Organized crime has defrauded corona subsidies in Finland – Tax administration finds financial crime backgrounds from hundreds of beneficiaries

Crown support billions have also been of interest to twilight actors in Finland. According to Helsingin Sanomat, the Central Criminal Police is investigating six cases in which the police suspect that organized criminal gangs have illegally obtained corona subsidies.

“The investigation is in progress and at least at this stage there is no more to tell about the topic,” the Central Criminal Police Criminal Inspector Markus Terenius says.

He does not describe the cases for criminal investigation reasons. Interest subsidies are paid from tax funds.

Large suspicions of fraudulent corona subsidies have emerged elsewhere in Europe. Eurojust, the European Union’s judicial cooperation unit said in April The loss of EUR 440 million to the Italian State following the use of corona aid by criminals.

Police means, by organized crime, a group of at least three persons who “commit serious crimes together”. Activities are characterized by the use or threat of violence and money laundering.

The purpose of organized crime is to profit its members through criminal but legitimate activities.

The criminal investigations initiated by the Central Criminal Police are based on the findings of the authorities that granted the corona subsidies. They have hinted at a link to organized crime.

Business Finland and the Ely centers have reported dozens of suspected crimes to the central criminal police, which has therefore launched a regular criminal investigation in six cases.

The problem from the point of view of the grantors of corona subsidies has been that they have not been able to check the applicants’ criminal background in advance. Corona subsidies have been granted at least by Business Finland, ELY Centers, the State Treasury, the Finnish Food Safety Authority, Traficom and municipalities.

However, criminal backgrounds for some of the applicants have been found in subsequent investigations.

Tax administration announced on Tuesday morning about its own report: corona subsidies have been granted to companies whose executives have a background in financial crime.

Financial crime convictions were found in 363 companies in 407 companies. The convicted person could be involved in more than one attempt.

The survey covered 85,000 companies that received subsidy subsidies. There were about 150,000 people in charge in these companies.

Under the terms of the corona subsidies, the criminal conviction has not been an obstacle to receiving the subsidy. If the judgment had precluded the grant of the aid and if the background had been provided, EUR 15 million in interest subsidies would not have been granted.

The tax administration conducted its survey by comparing the backgrounds of companies that received corona subsidies with the criminal record data for 2016–2020.

The criminal background of those responsible for companies is currently only investigated in public procurement. As a general rule, the grantors of interest subsidies have not had the right to determine the background to the financial crime.

Financial crime increases the risk of neglecting tax payments, for example.

The police six suspected crimes and the Tax Administration’s calculation of EUR 15 million are small amounts compared to the total amount of corona subsidies. The tax administration’s report focused on interest subsidies totaling EUR 1.6 billion in 2020.

Helsingin Sanomat has collected its own data on corona subsidies, which have been distributed between spring 2020 and May 2022. The material is exceptional: no authority in Finland is known to have one.

The survey found 60,500 companies or entities that have received more than 2.4 billion in total support. Direct subsidies granted by Business Finland, ely centers, the State Treasury, the Finnish Food Safety Authority and Traficom are included.

HS will report on the results of its report in the coming days.