The police suspect a well-known berry entrepreneur and recruiter of Thai pickers of gross human trafficking. In addition, the police have arrested an official on suspicion of gross bribery and gross abuse of official position.
The police and the extensive human trafficking crime in the natural berry industry investigated by the Border Guard took a new turn on Thursday, when the Central Criminal Police announced that they suspect one person of gross bribery and gross abuse of official position.
The Central Criminal Police said they had arrested an official, but did not identify him in more detail.
On Friday, the police said they would demand the advice of the Ministry of Labor and Economic Affairs (TEM). Olli from Sorai to be imprisoned on suspicion of gross bribery and gross abuse of official position.
The district court will discuss the incarceration on Sunday.
The head of the investigation of the case Teemu Mäntyniemi KRP said that the police suspect that “with the help of bribes, significant benefits and relief have been obtained in official processes related to berry picking.”
Mäntyniemi did not elaborate on what the official’s criminal suspicion is about.
HS has not reached Sorai himself to comment on the investigation.
of TEM director of communications Matti Hirvola confirmed to HS that on Thursday the KRP has informed the leadership of the ministry about the criminal investigation concerning Sorai.
Hirvola said that the ministry has started its own investigations. However, he did not comment further to HS on the investigations initiated in the ministry and possible follow-up actions.
Professor of criminal law at the University of Helsinki Kimmo Nuotion according to it is very exceptional that a high official in Finland is suspected of gross bribery and gross abuse of official position.
GRAVEL has been a key official in the Ministry of Education and Culture throughout the entire government period, specifically in the field of intervening in work-related exploitation. He has been preparing laws and other measures to tackle human trafficking and work-related exploitation.
He serves as the chairman of the advisory board set up by the Ministry of Education and Culture to combat exploitation.
Sorainen also prepared the so-called Marjalai law, which entered into force last year. Its purpose is to try to improve the position of foreign berry pickers in particular and to define the obligations of companies more precisely and more bindingly than before.
The law has given the occupational health and safety authority the opportunity to monitor the conditions of berry pickers. On the other hand, the law has also been criticized as lacking.
Criminal suspicions became public earlier in October, when the police said they were investigating a large human trafficking crime ring in the berry picking industry together with the Border Guard.
The police suspect that dozens of Thai berry pickers who worked in Finland fell victim to human trafficking during the years 2020–2022 in connection with the operations of a berry procurement company.
The focus of the preliminary investigation is the northern Finnish natural berry company Polarica marjahankinta oy and a Thai company that recruits berry pickers in Finland.
CEO of Polarica marjahankinta oy Jukka Kristoa and the Thai entrepreneur who recruited Thai pickers for the company is suspected of aggravated human trafficking. Both suspects have been in custody since the beginning of October.
On Thursday, the police said that during the preliminary investigation, the suspect’s crime was increased from basic human trafficking to suspected aggravated human trafficking.
Police has said that he suspects that human trafficking has been committed in the company’s operations by, among other things, misrepresenting, depriving and forcing berry pickers to do forced labor.
The police suspect that the pickers, who became seasonal workers, were dependent on their employer, which is a characteristic feature of human trafficking.
In addition to this, according to the police, berry pickers have, among other things, been housed in poor conditions.
According to what the head of the investigation said earlier, there are suspected to be dozens of berry pickers who have fallen victim to human trafficking, but not all of them necessarily know or recognize that they have fallen victim to human trafficking.
The police according to the Finnish authorities have cooperated with the authorities of Thailand and Sweden, among others.
Swedish public broadcasting company SVT reports earlier in October that the case is also being investigated in Sweden. The head office of Polarica Group and its berry company is located in Haparanna in northern Sweden.
According to SVT, the Swedish Immigration Service has reported the company to the police.
“Now the police must investigate whether berry pickers have been exploited. It is already known that the berry picking industry is a risky industry”, a spokesman for the Swedish Immigration Service Pierre Karatzian told SVT on October 6.
According to SVT, the announcement made by the Swedish Immigration Service concerns up to about a hundred people who have had work permits related to Polarica over the years.
FOR A YEAR Established in 1972, Polarica is one of Finland’s largest players in the business of purchasing and selling wild berries. In addition to Finland, the company operates in Sweden, Russia and Poland.
According to Asiakastieto, the company’s turnover this year was 12 million euros.
The company’s CEO and current majority owner, Jukka Kristo, is a well-known entrepreneur in Lapland, who has given numerous interviews to the media over the years regarding the natural berry industry and also foreign berry pickers.
Polarica has been reported to have brought, for example, around 1,100 Thai berry pickers to Finland this summer.
Thai pickers who become seasonal pickers are, among other things, rice farmers who are considered to pick wild berries as so-called independent entrepreneurs. In other words, they are not employed.
Kristo has denied the criminal suspicions against him. Polarica and its management have also rejected all suspicions of illegal activity in their press release.
Minister of Labour Tuula Haatainen commented on bribery suspicions on Saturday For Helsingin Sanomat. According to Haatainen, the case should be resolved quickly and thoroughly.
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