Business Finland faces legal battle over misappropriated taxpayer funds in Finland and the United States

Business Finland is currently embroiled in a lengthy legal process involving a former employee accused of misappropriating over four million euros of taxpayer funds through falsified bank statements. According to the organization, the misappropriated funds were used for various personal expenses, including renovations on a family home in the United States.

The organization has conducted a wide-ranging investigation into the events and responsibilities leading to this situation, but the results have yet to be published. Both Business Finland and its predecessor, Finpro, acknowledged that financial oversight during Finpro’s operations was inadequate.

In addition to the situation in the U.S., a similar financial misconduct amounting to one million euros has surfaced in China, with both cases under police investigation.

The financial irregularities were uncovered when Finpro was integrated into Business Finland in 2018. Originally, Finpro was a trade organization aimed at providing services to export companies, attracting investments to Finland, and promoting tourism.

Tiina Laino-Asikainen, former head of Finpro’s finance department, expressed deep regret over the failure to implement sufficient controls to catch the suspected misconduct before it escalated. Laino-Asikainen pointed out that during her tenure until 2017, the lack of oversight was evident, and the complexity of operations hindered effective control.

The CEO of Finpro USA at the time, Tomi Rauste, claimed he was not responsible for monitoring the company’s financial transactions. However, Laino-Asikainen emphasized that oversight responsibilities also lay with U.S.-based leaders.

Former leaders expressed that they were not contacted about the situation after their departure at the end of 2017 and lacked sufficient information to evaluate the effectiveness of control mechanisms in place during their tenure.