Legal proceedings Ex-police officer and author Kalevi Puonti convicted of official crimes – The day before, the man was rewarded for his police work

Helsinki the district court convicted the former drug police and current author on Tuesday Kalevi Puontin fines for two negligent breaches of duty. The official crimes relate to a time when Puonti was still working as a criminal constable in the Helsinki Drug Police.

One of the official offenses of negligence, ie negligence, concerns the source of information for the police and the other an ancillary activity outside police work.

At the request of the prosecutor and the defense, the district court declared the contents of the charge concerning the source of the information secret. According to the prosecutor, handling the case in public could have endangered the safety of the individual or individuals.

Information source activity refers to when the police obtain information from individuals about criminal activity.

From the public the documents show that the prosecution for the data source activity relates to events between the fall of 2017 and the spring of 2018.

Puonti himself told HS after the trial that the prosecution involved one meeting with a source in the port. He had met the person alone, although two police officers should be present at the information source meetings.

“Another person had to come there, but the guy didn’t get there. I then decided to meet the data source alone. The Central Criminal Police took a picture of it and made a report, ”says Puonti.

According to Puont, there are other issues involved, but disclosing them to the public would endanger the security of the information source.

According to Puont, the port meeting had been arranged at the request of another country’s authority. However, according to HS, no such request was made during the preliminary investigation.

HS: n According to the information, Puontia has been suspected in the preliminary investigation that he had carried out information source activities without permission and contrary to the express prohibition of the superior.

According to Puont, such a matter was clarified during the preliminary investigation, but according to him, the prosecution did not concern it.

In his own words, Puonti lost his license to use data sources due to the port meeting. According to him, the preliminary investigation also clarified the suspected contact that took place after that, but it did not lead to prosecution, he said.

HS has not been able to confirm the content of the charge because the court declared it secret and the prosecutor did not comment on it.

Second The indictment, on the other hand, concerned Puonti’s failure to disclose to a non-police officer the nature of his side work, the amount of compensation he received and his main duties in 2015–2018.

He had a side license to work on lyrics, composition and production at a company for which he had declared royalties as income.

However, according to the case-file, he breached his duty by failing to inform his employer that he had also been paid between EUR 16 500 and EUR 26 000 a year for his work in the board and in production. In addition, he failed to state that he had a guarantee liability for the company’s loan of approximately EUR 100 000.

Puonti pleaded guilty in court to both counts of negligent misconduct.

The charges were dealt with in the district on Tuesday as a so-called prosecution. In it, a suspect in a crime can receive a lesser punishment by admitting the charges.

The district court imposed a fine of 35 daily fines, of which a total of EUR 1,960 accrues.

In Kalevi Puonti, born in 1962, retired from the police at the end of 2020. He has published in recent years Poison poison crime novels and a non-fiction book Satu – The Iron Lady of the Underworld. Last autumn, Puonti was selected for Iltalehti’s degree program in investigative journalism.

On Monday this week, the Finnish Drug Association awarded Puont with the honorary mention of Oma Pääaa – Pääoma.

The association justified the reward on the grounds that Puonti had been involved in uncovering large-scale drug offenses and had sought to help people he encountered in his work to become intoxicant and to break free from crime.