Finnish dispute resolution team successfully assists forestry companies in white-collar crime investigations and criminal proceedings spanning 9 years

As a consequence, the judgment by the Court of Appeal of Helsinki in July 2018 remains final. According to the judgment of the Court of Appeal, the company's former executives and the representatives of the company's business partners were convicted of aggravated frauds committed between 1994 and 2011 to four unconditional imprisonments and two conditional imprisonments, the length of which varies from one year and three months up to six years and six months. Furthermore, the offenders were sentenced to pay a compensation of over EUR 10 million to the company. Among the convicts were members of the company's operative management, who had contributed to the fabricated and overpriced billing and contractual arrangements with the help of several business partners and thus deceived the company. In addition, a director of an English shipping company was among the convicts. Companies and money transfers in several EU member states and countries outside the EU were probed into as a part of the investigations and proceedings. Within Bird & Bird, attorneys-at-law Tom Vapaavuori and Ville Kivistö were involved with the case.

To read a story published by the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle (in Finnish), see here.