Finnish man suspected of making millions out of seriously ill children

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The Helsinki District Court has today to begun legal proceedings in a case involving charges relating to a suspected fraudulent charity drive for terminally ill children.
      District prosecutor Jaakko Tapala has filed charges against three men. One of the charges is aggravated fraud.
      Operating in the Greater Helsinki area, one of the men is suspected of making a considerable sum of money out of seriously ill children.
     
As far as is known, the fund-raising activities began already in 2003, continuing for several years. A large number of people donated money to the charity drive, collecting funds for organisations called Toive ry (”Wish”) and Unelmista totta Toive ry (”Make a Wish”), and promising that it would grant seriously ill children their most cherished wish.
      Those who donated money were given a publication called Toive (”Wish”) or some other items in return.
     
According to the police, only a small portion of the collected funds actually went to charity.
      The man who is believed to be in charge of running the operation has reported that most of the funds were used for expenses, including salaries and the printing and mailing of written material.
      The man had arranged a telemarketing drive for the purpose. The salespersons who phoned people in order to collect funds have not been suspected of any crimes.
     
     
The Arizona-based Make-A-Wish Foundation International, which describes its mission as "to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy", has subsequently issued a statement to the effect that it has no affiliates in Finland and is not in any way connected with the scam. The notice is linked below.  


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Suspended sentence for cancer charity fraud (27.4.2007)
  Suspected fraudulent cancer charity drive attracts over 50,000 donors (11.4.2005)

Links:
  Make-A-Wish Foundation International: Alleged Fraud in Finland Using Make-A-Wish Name

Helsingin Sanomat