Two suspected of plotting kidnap of millionaire’s son

Thomas Wahlroos

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Two Finnish men have been held in custody in Estonia on suspicion of making preparations for taking a hostage for ransom.
      The leading prosecutor says that the men, who were arrested in September, were planning to abduct a Finnish businessman in hopes of a large ransom payout. Police say that the kidnapping was supposed to take place in Finland, but Estonians were being recruited for the implementation of the crime.
      Estonia’s Supreme Court decided on Wednesday to release one of the men on Wednesday on the grounds that there was no longer a basis for keeping him in custody. However, he is still considered a suspect.
     
Estonian and Finnish police were tipped off about a kidnapping plan already in the summer and started to work together on the matter. Det. Insp. Jari Räty of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) says that the suspects were under surveillance, and the police were constantly aware of what was going on.
      “The targets were safe all the time”, Räty says.
      The suspects were arrested in Estonia on September 6th as they were recruiting accomplices. Making preparations for a kidnapping is not a crime under Finnish law, but it is in Estonia, where it carries a sentence of up to 12 years' imprisonment.
     
Court records show that the original plan was to abduct the son of a Finnish banker, but the plans changed, and the intended target was a Finnish businessman.
      Helsingin Sanomat has learned that the first intended target was Thomas Wahlroos, the 32-year-old son of bank director Björn Wahlroos.
      The younger Wahlroos established a reputation several years ago as a professional poker player. He has later gone into banking himself.
      The suspects are believed to have decided on a new target because they felt that kidnapping Wahlroos would have been too difficult to implement. The new intended target has not been identified.
     


See also:
  At kidnapping trial, Turunen admits taking hostage (30.9.2009)
  Member of Herlin industrial dynasty held hostage for over two weeks (15.6.2009)

Helsingin Sanomat