Defence Staff acquisitions officer found guilty of corruption

Helsinki Court of Appeal: Golf events falls under public relations activities, trip to opera festival is a bribe

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The Helsinki Court of Appeal has found an officer working at Finland's Defence Staff guilty of corruption. On Tuesday, the man, who held the naval rank of Commander and worked as a department head at the Defence Staff, was ordered to pay 20 day-fines equalling EUR 620 in total.
      Furthermore, the convicted officer has to reimburse the government EUR 1,000, the amount that the Court saw he had benefited through different forms of hospitality.
     
According to the prosecution, the officer in charge of Defence Staff office equipment acquisitions had taken part in eleven golf events arranged by a supplier of photocopiers. In addition, the commander and his wife were also invited twice to the Savonlinna Opera Festival.
      During the time of these events in 2000-2002, the Defence Staff purchased office equipment worth EUR 150,000 from the supplier in question.
      Though there was no direct evidence linking the purchases to the received hospitality, the Court ruled that the commander's actions "were enough to weaken his confidence in making unbiased official decisions".
     
The commander denied all accusations. In his view, it was all normal public relations activities, which other Defence Staff and public administration personnel also took part in.
      The Defence Staff and the photocopier firm took turns in organising the golf events. The convicted commander's superiors also took part in these events, including the Head of the Defence Staff, the Head of Personnel, and the Defence Forces' Head of Communications of that time.
      With regard to the golf events, the Court dropped all the charges.
      In its view, the financial gain from these events, which at its greatest may have been worth a little over EUR 100 per round, was insignificant, especially when such public relations activities were organised on a reciprocal basis.
     
In respect of the opera festival trips, the Court decided in the prosecution's favour.
      In 2000 and 2001, the photocopier firm provided the department head and his wife with opera tickets, accommodation, and a lake cruise with dinner. In total, the department head's financial gain from this came to around EUR 1,000.
      According to the Court, the commander should have realised that in the view of outsiders, accepting such gifts might compromise the impartiality of his position.
      The 54-year-old commander, who still works at the Defence Staff, is scheduled to retire this summer.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Defence Staff acquisitions officer faces corruption charges (17.12.2004)

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