The increase is almost entirely due to a rise in cases involving the suspected misuse of a position of power. The number of such cases is almost twice as high as that recorded the year before – 155 instances warranted police scrutiny in 2013.
Meanwhile, the number of suspected crimes involving bribery fell last year to about 30, yet the number of investigations into serious cases is higher than ever before.
One such example is the corporate case of a Helsinki-based financial manager. Police suspected the person of embezzling millions of euros from their employer over the years. In the pre-trial investigation the suspect has admitted to the misdeed and is suspected, amongst other things, of abusing their position of power.
Wheeling and dealing, rather than stealing
However, Finnish corruption tends to take on a different form from that of many other nations.
“In Finland, cash money – or money generally – moves very little. It’s more a question of services,” explains Detective Chief Inspector Jouni Hirvonen of the Central Criminal Police. “Benefits are granted and received and favours exchanged on both sides.”
In particular, Hirvonen draws attention to public procurement tenders.
“Competitive bidding processes should be more sharply scrutinized and closer attention paid to transparency,” Hirvonen says.