Crimes | Suspected corruption of a cleaning company for prosecution: Entertainment electronics were given as a gift

Helsinki the police’s economic crime investigation has completed the preliminary investigation of an exceptionally large corruption ring. The case is moving to prosecution.

Based on the preliminary investigation, the police suspect two people of aggravated bribery and aggravated bribery in business activities.

The bankrupt company engaged in sales and marketing of industrial chemicals and cleaning agents.

“The corruption scandal is a national issue, and its investigation has extended to the territory of all Finnish judicial districts and police departments. The company has operated in Helsinki, and therefore the giving of a bribe is handled here,” says the head of the investigation, criminal inspector Visa Weckström.

In total 80 preliminary investigations concerning the taking of bribes have been transferred to prosecution before. A few dozen cases have already been processed in different district courts. The vast majority of cases have been blamed on bribe takers.

The police said In the HS news in May, that at that time there were 180 people suspected of taking a bribe, of which 25 were civil servants. The majority of civil servants had worked in municipalities and in the hospital district. Four church officials and one state administration official were also suspected.

Some of the criminal suspicions have had time to expire.

The value of the subscription gifts received by individual contact persons has varied between 50 euros and around 30,000 euros, depending on the total amount of the customer’s orders.

Company distributed items unrelated to its industry as subscription gifts, mainly consumer electronics, mobile phones, computers and gift cards. Gifts have been given throughout the 2010s.

“The total VAT-taxable value of customer gifts related to bribery offenses is approximately 370,000 euros. The question is the value of the bribes and especially the number of bribe takers, probably one of the biggest corruption crimes, according to Weckström in the police press release.

The preliminary investigation material is exceptionally extensive, there are more than 7,000 pages of material on the giving of bribes alone.

Corruption tape began to be revealed when the company went awry in 2019. Suspicious findings were made in the company’s bankruptcy proceedings and tax audit. The police started a preliminary investigation in 2020.

The police are surprised that no one reported the long-standing and extensive activity to the police or other authorities.

“Although recognizing corruption in certain forms can be somewhat challenging, I am surprised that, as far as we know, only one of the cases discussed in this thread has been reported to the authorities on its own initiative,” Weckström says.