Russian arrested in Finland on money laundering charges
A Russian citizen was detained in Finland on a money laundering charges, RBC news agency reports, citing Natalia Vezhlivtseva, the press attaché of the Russian Embassy.
"The Consular Department of the Russian Embassy in Finland has been duly notified by the Finnish police of the detention of a Russian citizen, whose identity is not disclosed in the interests of the investigation,” she said.
The press attaché said that the Russian Embassy in Finland remains in touch with the police. She added that the detained Russian citizen has the opportunity to contact the embassy for consular assistance.
Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation reported that 17 searches were conducted in the south-west of the country from September 22 to 23. As a result, documents and computer drives were seized. This is related to the investigation of the laundering of several million euros and the tax evasion by a Finnish company. According to the police, the company is also suspected of using undeclared labor for the construction.
The police arrested three people, one of whom was later released. Seven people were questioned as part of this investigation.
As reported by Yle, searches were conducted in the premises and land plots owned by the company Airiston Helmi. According to Yle, the company concluded land transactions in the archipelago of Turku from 2007 to 2014. The transactions amounted to € 9.2 million. In 2017, the company's losses amounted to € 300 thousand. Yle notes that Airiston Helmi was registered in 2007, and the head of the board was a Russian national born in 1964. According to the Finnish register of commercial companies, the Russian citizen also has the citizenship of Malta. There is also a Polish man among the heads of the company.
The newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported that the Finnish law enforcement agencies have been monitoring the company’s activities due to its relations with Russia.