Espoo city officials deny allegations of accepting bribes

Official trips by City Manager Kokkonen and Dir. of Technical & Environment Services Louko could bring charges in August

Marketta Kokkonen

Olavi Louko

print this

The Espoo City Manager Marketta Kokkonen and the city's Director of Technical and Environment Services Olavi Louko have denied allegations of bribery violations arising out of official trips they have made.
      The National Bureau of Investigation, Finland's central criminal police arm, has suspected there may have been infractions, and has almost completed a preliminary investigation into the matter. Charges, if they are to be brought, would follow in August.
     
The criminal investigation centres on sixteen official trips made by Louko, one of which Kokkonen also took part in.
      Police suspect Louko of a bribery offence and of offences in connection with the neglect of his official duties. Kokkonen is in turn suspected of negligence through having approved Louko's trips beforehand as his immediate superior.
      The trips have focused on seminars and other events between 2004 and 2008. The majority were arranged within Finland itself, and some were held abroad, for instance in Central and Southern Europe.
     
The officer leading the investigation, Det. Insp. Jaakko Christensen, will not reveal the reasons why the police suspect Louko and Kokkonen may have been guilty of offences on the trips.
      According to the terms of the Penal Code, a civil servant is guilty of a bribery offence if he or she requests or receives a gift or benefit in kind such that the action weakens confidence in the impartiality of the subject's work as an official.
      Christensen has said that the investigation has sought to determine whether the trips made were in reality working visits or merely recreational.
      The possible gifts and benefits involved were described as relatively minor in financial terms.
     
A total of 23 persons have been heard in the enquiries so far, and reports have been requested from seventeen bodies.
      Kokkonen and Louko consider the suspicions to be unfounded.
      Kokkonen stated that she vehemently denies any allegations that she had transgressed against the law, and that she has done nothing whatsoever save furthering the interests of the taxpayers.
      Both parties refused to comment on the content of the suspicions owing to the incomplete nature of the police investigation.
      Neither Kokkonen nor Louko are currently charged with any offence, and if the prosecutor finds no grounds for filing charges, the case will not come to court.
     
It is understood that the police enquiry was launched by a request at the end of last year from Espoo City Councillor Kurt Byman (Ind.).
      He passed material to the police concerning 125 trips made by Olavi Louko between 2001 and 2008, examining the parties arranging the trips and events and their links with the City of Espoo.
      Byman has claimed that construction firms and developers have entertained Louko and in so doing have received large tracts of land for development from Espoo. Louko has denied the claims.
     
Councillor Byman has also noted that Louko's trips have been associated with free-time activities. Louko has admitted that he has run marathons in New York, Budapest, and Berlin in connection with official trips.
      He has also stated that these runs were duly marked in the travel itineraries forwarded to City Manager Kokkonen beforehand.
      Kokkonen has been the City Manager of Espoo since 1995.


Links:
  City of Espoo

Helsingin Sanomat