Airiston Helmi economic crime case in appeals court – prosecutor: company was a "front"
The appeals court hearing for Russian billionaire Pavel Melnikov's Airiston Helmi company began in Turku. The prosecutor seeks harsher sentencing, and the defence seeks dismissal of the charges.
Turku Court of Appeal to rule on Finland's largest economic crime investigation
Hämeen Sanomat reported that the main hearing in the Airiston Helmi company economic crime case began on Tuesday in Turku Court of Appeal. Special prosecutor Petri Rautio described the company in his opening statement as a "front", whose purpose was not to conduct business but to serve the principal owner's private interests in property trading and management.
In documents seized during the preliminary investigation, the company was referred to by prosecutors as "Finland office". According to Rautio, the activity was disguised as business in accordance with a so-called "Finland legend" document.
Operation involved 400 officials and 3.5 million euros in cash
Airiston Helmi hit the headlines in September 2018, when a large-scale official operation was conducted on the company's properties in Turku's archipelago. Approximately 400 officials were involved, and the Central Criminal Police (KRP) received support from the Border Guard and the Defence Forces. A helicopter and coast guard vessels were used as assistance.
Searches were conducted at 17 locations. Police seized documents, USB drives and memory cards, as well as 3.5 million euros in cash. Seized data amounted to over 300 terabytes – more than the KRP's average annual seizures. The material was predominantly in Russian, and official assistance was requested from Europol for its processing.
According to prosecutors, no indication of any intention to conduct profitable business was found in ten years of internal communications. Instead, searches found falsified passenger lists and sales invoices.
District court verdict and the appeals court's role
The company's principal owner, Russian billionaire Pavel Melnikov, 62, was sentenced last year in district court to one-and-a-half years' conditional imprisonment for aggravated tax fraud and aggravated bookkeeping offence. The crimes took place in 2008–2018, and according to the district court they aimed to achieve a benefit of at least 850,000 euros. According to prosecutors, taxes were avoided totalling 1.2 million euros through undeclared wage payments. The district court dismissed the charges against the other defendants.
Prosecutors are seeking harsher sentencing for Melnikov in the appeals court. Melnikov, for his part, seeks dismissal of all charges against him.
Defence: charges are built as an "arsenal of assertions"
Melnikov's lawyer, counsel Kai Kotiranta, described the charges as a narrative that has been developed to justify Finland's largest economic crime investigation.
– It is certainly very confusing, Kotiranta stated at the beginning of his submission.
According to him, the properties were purchased in the names of Finnish limited companies because Melnikov had been given to understand that transactions would be easier to conduct that way. Kotiranta emphasised that managing the assets of wealthy people through a company structure is not exceptional.
– He dreamed of coming by helicopter from Latvia to go mushroom picking on the island. That does not sound very criminal, Kotiranta said.
According to the defence, the sales invoices are based on actual sales and are not falsified. Kotiranta also questioned the necessity of the massive official operation and asked what Airiston Helmi had actually "disguised" itself as.
Suspicions extended beyond tax fraud
The KRP stated from the beginning that the searches were related to an economic crime investigation conducted with the Tax Administration. However, the exceptional operation immediately raised suspicions of a broader background. Airiston Helmi had acquired properties near central shipping lanes, and lively helicopter traffic as well as landing areas built on the properties had attracted local attention for years previously.
According to information obtained by STT, the company had been a concern for the Defence Forces for a long time. Helsingin Sanomat reported, citing military sources, that the Security Police had also monitored Airiston Helmi for years before the operation.
Source: Hämeen Sanomat