Suspected fraudulent fund-raising campaign for Estonian war veterans

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Police are investigating a suspected fraudulent charity drive on behalf of the Estonian war veterans who served in several units within the Finnish armed forces during the Winter War (1939-1940) and the Continuation War (1941-1944).
      An organisation called Suomen kaukopartio ry has been advertising its campaign on the Internet with the claim that the revenue would go to help these Estonian veterans through a Finnish association Suomen-poikien perinneyhdistys ry. However, according to the Chairman of the association, MP Seppo Lahtela (Centre), no portion of the money collected has ended up benefiting the veterans.
     
Suomen kaukopartio is reported to have started selling advertising space on their Internet pages to their customers, including firms, municipalities, and congregations, from the end of 2003. The fund-raising activities were interrupted last summer until they were started again around the turn of the year.
      Seppo Lahtela points out that there never was any agreement with Suomen kaukopartio on cooperation, nor were they allowed to use the association's name in their marketing. Hence, the association Suomen-poikien perinneyhdistys has notified the police of the matter.
      On the other hand, over 200 companies, associations, and individuals have booked advertising space on the website of Suomen kaukopartio in the course of the past winter. Some have said that they did not expect to benefit from it, but wanted to support a good cause.
     
Suspicions of fraudulent activities are compounded by certain details in the operation of Suomen kaukopartio ry.
      For example, it claims to be a registered association, but is not listed in the Register of Associations maintained by the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland. Furthermore, no phone number or address of the "association" or its members can be found on their own website. Moreover, only the surname and the first initial of his or her forename are known of their executive manager.
     
According to the Finnish Business Information System, which is a joint service for enterprises and communities that transact with the Finnish Trade Register, Foundations Register, or Tax Administration, the activities of Suomen kaukopartio were stopped in January 2004.
      However, the association has been selling advertising space as late as during this winter, and it has sent invoices that were dated at the end of January 2005. The phone number given in these invoices is out of service, and the address given in the invoices is no longer valid.
     
Police also believe that in 2003 more than 50,000 Finnish individuals, companies, and associations donated money in good faith to a suspected fraudulent charity drive for cancer victims. Investigators say that only a small portion of the money collected ended up benefiting cancer patients.
      Another similar case involving a fund-raising drive for veterans of the Winter War took place at the end of the 1990s. The main organiser of the campaign was charged with aggravated fraud, but was acquitted on appeal.
      Cases like these, involving a pattern teetering on the threshold of illegality, have come quite common in recent years. However, after the government's bill on fund-raising has been passed, Finnish authorities are expected to have greater scope to intervene in suspected cases of aggravated fraud and marketing law violations.


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

Helsingin Sanomat