Katkosild ordered to compensate Helprint’s bankruptcy estate millions following fraudulent transactions in Finland

The bankruptcy estate of the printing company Helprint will receive substantial compensation amounting to millions from companies owned by Estonian businessman Erki Katkosild. The damages are related to real estate transactions that the court determined were aimed at concealing Helprint’s assets from creditors.

In March 2019, Helprint’s factory property was sold twice in one day. The court stated that Helprint was insolvent at the time of the transactions. Initially, Helprint sold the property to Scartech Oy for two million euros, which Scartech then resold to Remirant Oy for 500,000 euros. All three companies were under the ownership or control of Katkosild.

In a ruling issued by the South Savo District Court on Thursday, both sales were declared undervalued. An assessment commissioned by Katkosild in February 2019 had valued the factory at 5.2 million euros. The court also annulled a rental agreement between Helprint and a property company owned by Scartech, Remirant, and Katkosild. Helprint had leased the factory from this property company in June 2019 under what the court deemed an overpriced contract, aiming to shift the bankruptcy estate’s assets to other companies controlled by Katkosild via inflated rental obligations.

The court ordered Scartech and Remirant to compensate Helprint’s bankruptcy estate 3.2 million euros with interest, as well as cover a large portion of the estate’s legal costs. The judgments are not yet final.

Additionally, the National Bureau of Investigation announced in June that it has completed its inquiry into a series of crimes related to Helprint, alleging serious financial crimes involving several Estonian and Finnish nationals from 2019 to 2020. The prosecution review of these offenses is still ongoing.