Prosecutors seek four-year sentence for Russian billionaire Melnikov in Airiston Helmi case
The court of appeal is hearing economic crime charges against Pavel Melnikov, principal owner of Airiston Helmi. Prosecutors are seeking a four-year custodial sentence.
Principal owner of Airiston Helmi before court of appeal – prosecutors seek four years
According to Hämeen Sanomat, prosecutors are requesting Turku Court of Appeal to impose a four-year custodial sentence on Pavel Melnikov, principal owner of real estate company Airiston Helmi, for serious economic crimes.
The 62-year-old Russian billionaire Melnikov currently faces charges of serious accounting fraud, serious tax fraud, and serious occupational pension insurance premium fraud.
Varsinais-Suomi District Court sentenced Melnikov last year to one-and-a-half years' conditional imprisonment for two serious offences. The district court dismissed the charge of serious occupational pension insurance premium fraud. According to the district court, Melnikov sought to gain at least €850,000 through his crimes, including by providing false information in tax returns over several years. Melnikov himself is demanding at the court of appeal that all charges be dismissed.
The appellate court's closing arguments began on Thursday and are set to continue on Friday. The trial began in late August.
Undeclared wages and unfounded invoices
According to prosecutors, Airiston Helmi's operations involved paying hundreds of thousands of euros in undeclared wages, as a result of which the notification obligation under the occupational pension law was also neglected. In addition, the company's accounts contained unfounded sales invoices.
Special prosecutor Petri Rautio emphasised in his closing argument that the evidence in the case had been exceptionally comprehensive.
"Never before in Finland has evidence of this type of material been presented in an economic crime case in the form of various documents, organisational charts, internal expense tracking and reporting systems, and messages," he said.
At the district court, prosecutors sought a five-year custodial sentence for Melnikov and argued that Airiston Helmi had been a shell company established to conceal the activities of a criminal group led by Melnikov. However, the district court found no evidence of the alleged criminal organisation. The charges against other defendants were dismissed entirely at district court; at the court of appeal, prosecutors are seeking both conditional and custodial sentences for them.
Large law enforcement operation in 2018
According to the defence, Airiston Helmi was established to facilitate Melnikov's real estate transactions, and the idea for establishing the company had come from a real estate agent. The company was registered in the commercial register in 2007 and was placed into liquidation in 2019.
Airiston Helmi came to broad public attention in September 2018 when authorities conducted a large operation at the company's properties in the Turku archipelago. The operation involved approximately one hundred Central Criminal Police officers and approximately 300 personnel from, among others, the Border Guard and the Defence Forces. The company's island acquisitions had already attracted attention before the operation, as the properties were located along waterways that were central to Finland's defence and supply security.
Source: Hämeen Sanomat