Lawyer forged district court judgement
Case only came to light because client insisted on appealing "court verdict"
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In a case that is apparently unprecedented in Finnish legal history, a lawyer from Helsinki forged a district court verdict and presented it to his client in order to cover up for his own mistake and lead the client into believing he had done his job properly.
The hearing of this highly unusual case was held at the Helsinki District Court last week, and this time the court hearing was for real. The court sentenced layer Arto Timo Kalevi Koivuhovi, 47, to a suspended sentence of ten months for the forgery he committed in the summer of 2005.
The court noted that the lawyer’s offence was aimed at the client, the state judicial system, and the system's reliability. However, significant financial losses the lawyer will suffer were seen as a mitigating factor in passing sentence.
Koivuhovi stated in court that he had sent a resignation letter to the Finnish Bar Association. He pleaded guilty and has made a confidential private settlement with his former client.
The 2005 case revolved around a traffic accident dispute between the client and an insurance company over compensation, which actually began some ten years ago. The insurance company refused to pay compensation to Koivuhovi’s client for a written-off car, as his policy had expired a few days prior to the accident, through non-payment of the premium.
Koivuhovi failed to draw up the lawsuit in time and therefore decided to forge a district court verdict, which he later presented to his client.
The forged verdict rejected the client's suit but ruled to split the costs. The last line of the forged verdict also noted that Koivuhovi had expressed his dissatisfaction with the ruling, which further increased the plausibility of the forgery.
Had Koivuhovi’s client not wanted to appeal the verdict, it is unlikely the forgery would have ever been exposed. The document as such was very convincing, and would have passed muster with most lawyers, let alone their clients. It also contained the name and (forged) signature of a Helsinki District Court judge.
Koivuhovi naturally sought to placate his client and advise him of the pointlessness of appealing, but unfortunately the client was adamant that he wanted a second opinion from the Appeals Court.
When the Appeals Court ruling showed no signs of appearing, the client started to make his own investigations into the matter and discovered with some surprise that the pending case did not exist. He then faxed the forged verdict in his possession to the district court and the scam was exposed.
The Finnish Bar Association does not recall a similar forgery case ever having occurred in Finland.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 31.8.2007 - TODAY |
 Lawyer forged district court judgement
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