Uros financial crime investigation concludes – criminal damage nearly €38 million
The National Bureau of Investigation suspects Uros Group leadership of serious financial crimes. Oulu Police: Finnish company deceived into investing over three million euros.
Uros Group's extensive financial crime investigation proceeding to prosecution review
According to Ess.fi, the long-running preliminary investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) concerning Oulu-based technology company Uros is nearing completion. Investigative lead, Senior Criminal Commissioner Henry Rinteelä of the NBI, describes the overall matter as exceptional.
"This is an exceptionally large and extensive financial crime case such as has not previously been uncovered in Finland," Rinteelä states in a press release.
The criminal offences under investigation are aggravated debtor dishonesty, aggravated bookkeeping fraud and aggravated forgery. The NBI has additionally investigated two separate aggravated frauds related to the company's earlier financing negotiations.
In the principal offence, aggravated debtor dishonesty, criminal suspicions are proceeding to prosecution review against ten individuals, two of whom have been named as principal suspects by the NBI. For other criminal offences, the number of suspects varies.
Based on the preliminary investigation, the estimated criminal damage is nearly €38 million. The dates of the suspected crimes are concentrated principally in the years 2019–2022.
Conglomerate extended to China, Taiwan and Brazil
According to the NBI's investigation, the Uros Group has comprised 14 companies in different parts of the world, with China, Taiwan and Brazil at the furthest reaches. The criminal suspicions are essentially that Uros accumulated substantial receivables from its group companies whilst the company became indebted and was, based on the preliminary investigation, practically insolvent as early as the beginning of 2019.
The NBI additionally suspects that assets were disposed of at undervalue and sales receivables were transferred to other companies without legitimate business justification. Financial obligations were increased without justification whilst the company was already facing significant payment difficulties.
Switzerland has transferred two separate fraud investigations to the NBI, for which the preliminary investigation remains ongoing. According to Rinteelä, there is reason to suspect in the aggravated frauds that investors were deceived by providing false information.
Oulu Police: investment fraud of over three million euros
Oulu Police Department has also completed its preliminary investigation into a matter related to Uros. Based on this, it is suspected that a Finnish company was deceived into investing over three million euros in Uros by being provided with false and misleading information about the company's operations to the representative of the company making the investment. The misleading information related, according to police, to Uros's financial position and business operations.
One individual is suspected of aggravated fraud. He has denied having committed the crime. A criminal report was filed in late 2021 on the basis of an investigation request made by the injured party. The matter has been referred to prosecution review.
From Tampere Arena to Nokia Arena
Uros was founded in 2011, and its business was built around Internet of Things, or IoT, services. The general public learned of the company in March 2020 when Tampere Arena was named Uros Live Arena. Once financial problems became public, the sponsorship agreement was terminated, and the arena was later named Nokia Arena.
Uros was declared bankrupt at Oulu District Court in February 2022. Those demanding bankruptcy were Finnvera, Ilmarinen and banks Nordea and Oulu Co-operative Bank.
Source: Google News FI — Crime (fi)