The former managing director of the Eteva municipal corporation, which provides disability services, is also accused of redeeming a company car for himself at an underpriced price.
Disability services According to the prosecutor, the former managing director of the productive Eteva municipal corporation arranged unjustifiably large compensations for people leaving the municipal corporation and acquired his former company car for himself at an underpriced price.
The trial of the case began on Thursday in the district court of Itä-Uusimaa with a preparatory session.
The prosecutor demands Eteva’s former CEO Katrina Harjuhahto-Madetoja a suspended prison sentence of at least one year. He is accused of gross abuse of official position and breach of official duty.
According to the indictment, Harjuhahto-Madetoja resigned from Eteva in the fall of 2019 and was completely absent from work in January 2020.
In addition, a 3-4 month suspended prison sentence is required for one of Eteva’s former officials for minor official crimes, and fines for Eteva’s former chairman of the board.
All three defendants deny having committed the crimes. The criminal suspicions concern different periods between 2016 and 2020.
According to its website, Eteva has offices in 21 municipalities in Uusimaa, Kanta-Hämee and Päijät-Hämee. The municipal association employs approximately 1,300 people.
The trial the most severe charge of gross abuse of official position concerns the actions of the CEO.
According to the prosecutor, the CEO agreed or approved the employment termination contracts of four civil servants, on the basis of which severance payments of 21,000–25,000 euros were paid to each civil servant.
“The office holders have received considerable benefit from the procedure, because they have been paid compensation without the obligation to work,” the prosecutor’s subpoena application states.
For example, in the case of one civil servant, the prosecutor states that it was the payment of a “gift-like benefit” in connection with retirement. In other cases, it was about contracts to terminate the employment relationships of civil servants.
According to the prosecutor, Eteva has not received any compensation for the severance pay it paid.
From the past the managing director is also accused of hiring a person in Eteva for six months for a fixed-term employment relationship without a work obligation. He received a salary of more than 24,000 euros during this period.
The person in question is one of those who previously received severance pay. According to the indictment, he was rehired based on a condition in the separation agreement.
According to the separation agreement, the person will be re-employed at Eteva for six months, unless he is employed by the end of the first earnings-related daily allowance period.
In addition According to the prosecutor, in another case, the managing director agreed that the profit area manager would receive a paid exemption from work obligation for two and a half months. The result area manager received a salary of more than 25,000 euros for that period.
The CEO is also accused of redeeming his Volvo S60 company car for himself at a lower price in connection with his dismissal.
According to the prosecutor, the CEO was initially willing to redeem the car at its book value, i.e. 4,600 euros.
Based on the auditor’s instructions, he asked for comparative offers from two car dealerships. They offered 16,000–17,000 euros for the car.
After this, according to the indictment, the CEO redeemed the car for himself for 14,000 euros, which is clearly cheaper than the car dealerships’ offers.
According to the prosecutor, the managing director violated the disqualification regulations by participating in the preparation of the contract for redeeming the car, even though he himself was a party to it.
Eteva is demanding substantial compensation in the lawsuit.
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