Suspicion of embezzlement|A Finnish woman suspected of embezzling millions in the United States tells Yle how state money was handled.
Finnish womanwho Business Finland accuses of stealing millions of euros in the United States, has commented on the matter for the first time in public To Yle.
A woman suspected having embezzled 4.8 million dollars, i.e. 4.3 million euros, from his employer and thereby from Finnish taxpayers and used it for his own and his family’s luxurious life in the United States.
The woman worked for years at the state export promotion company Finpro, which later became Business Finland. The suspected abuses began in 2011 and ended in dismissals in 2018.
It has been under discussion in court in the United States for a long time, and from the beginning of the year The Finnish Central Criminal Police began to investigate the matter.
Woman is in the past told to the judge that the generally accepted model was that he paid the company’s large expenses annually with his own card and later refunded the amounts to himself.
Now the woman tells Yle how the state’s money was managed. According to him, the use of his own card was known to his superiors in Finland and the United States, and he never even wanted a company credit card. He says that, among other things, he paid the rent of the office with his own card.
“I spun the whole show. Everything was easy, no one ever asked,” the woman commented to Yle.
Funding for Finpro’s US operations came from Finland, and the woman could periodically request funding from Finland for various expenses. At the same time, he was also responsible for expense reporting to Finland.
According to Yle, the woman was the only one who had access to the account to which government funds from Finland were transferred, and for years no one else saw what was done with the money.
Head of Business Finland’s legal department Marianne Asikainen admits to Yle that supervision has been insufficient at Finpro. However, the main responsibility lies with the person who acted misleadingly and fraudulently, commented Asikainen.
According to the customer, Finpro tried to get the woman to use the house’s credit card and give others access and viewing rights to the bank account, but it didn’t work, Yle says.
Woman still denies the accusations of misuse of Business Finland’s funds.
He does not give Yle an explanation for the expenses, which Business Finland claims were paid with state money, and says that the family’s lifestyle has been made possible by several credit cards and the points accumulated from their use.
According to Yle, the woman dreams of a new beginning and that the trial is over.
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