Customs suspects a company in eastern Finland of selling sanctioned components to russia

Customs authorities report that they are investigating a major criminal case in which they suspect that a company from Eastern Finland supplied components subject to sanctions to russia during 2022-2023.

According to customs, the value of the components delivered amounted to €2.7 million. These included semiconductors, microchips, processors and connectors.

The company's components were purchased in the United States, the EU and China and resold to a number of companies based in the EU and Hong Kong. However, not all shipments reached the country for which they were declared in the export documents. Some of the goods were sent to Finland and some directly to russia.

According to preliminary investigations, the goods were also exported to russia in violation of sanctions, mainly through the Vaalimaa border crossing point.

Customs has two main suspects, one of whom is believed to be in russia. The other suspect has dual Finnish and russian citizenship.

The person residing in russia is suspected of organising and managing the activities of a company operating in Finland.

Preliminary investigations have established that the instructions came from the suspect's son, who served as an officer in the russian army. During a search of the house, a photograph of a young man dressed in a russian officer's uniform was found. The young man also gave the address of a russian military academy as his address when opening a bank account in Finland, said Sanna Kuparinen, head of the investigation, in a press release.

Customs investigated the case as a particularly serious crime involving a violation of state regulations and as particularly serious tax fraud. After the pre-trial investigation is completed, the case will be referred to the Eastern Finland Prosecutor's Office.

Source: Yle