Finnish Corruption Scandal Figure Arrested in Riga
Police in Riga on Thursday detained Arto Autio, a Finnish national previously listed on Interpol’s wanted notices, whom Finland seeks to prosecute in the country’s largest corruption scandal and who owns property in Latvia. The arrest was confirmed to Re:Baltica by Latvia’s Prosecutor General’s Office, as well as by eyewitnesses and individuals connected to Autio’s business activities.
“He wasn’t driving his usual black pickup truck, but a van normally used by employees. He was driving quite slowly, making several loops around the premises. When the unmarked cars initially failed to stop him, more vehicles arrived and blocked his way from all sides,” Re:Baltica was told by eyewitnesses.
Autio was accompanied by his daughter, whose name was used to hide his Riga properties after Finland and Estonia opened criminal cases against him. “She called me and said that Arto had been detained, but nothing more,” his former employee Sergey Vort confirmed to Re:Baltica.
Timo Haikonen, a special prosecutor at the Southern Finland Prosecutor’s Office, confirmed to Re:Baltica’s partners at Finland’s public broadcaster YLE that Autio was detained on the basis of a European Arrest Warrant. Finland has already requested his extradition.
Ieva Šomina, a spokesperson for Latvia’s Prosecutor General’s Office, confirmed that Autio was detained at Finland’s request and said the prosecutor’s office will decide on extradition following a ruling by an investigating judge on his detention. If the suspect does not consent to extradition, the decision may be appealed to Latvia’s Supreme Court.
Who is Autio?
Finnish citizen Arto Autio has been convicted in Estonia of tax fraud. There, he attracted attention through real estate dealings involving the Centre Party. In Finland, Autio is one of the main defendants in the case concerning the Youth Foundation (Nuorisosäätiö).
The foundation established a real estate network in the 1960s, providing affordable rental housing to young people and families under the age of 30 who have recently entered the workforce and cannot afford to buy property. Autio is accused of organizing and paying bribes, committing accounting crimes, and embezzlement. As a result, the foundation allegedly suffered losses amounting to tens of millions of euros, while companies linked to Autio earned millions.
All other defendants in the case have already been convicted, but Autio fled and lived in luxury in Belarus for several years. Belarus usually does not extradite criminals, and legal cooperation has effectively stalled since the country supported Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Finland had requested that Autio be added to Europe’s most-wanted criminals list.
What is the connection to Latvia?
Part of the fraudulently obtained funds possibly ended up in Latvia. Re:Baltica previously identified 14 properties in Riga linked to Autio’s family, with a total value of €12 million, according to Land Registry records. The properties were purchased through companies that at the time belonged to Autio, but have since been transferred to his daughter.
Re:Baltica investigated Autio’s Riga properties together with YLE. Prior to this investigation, the family’s assets in Latvia were unknown. They were uncovered thanks to a whistleblower, who first reported them to Latvia’s Financial Intelligence Unit and, after its inaction, to Re:Baltica.
Author: Sanita Jemberga, Re:Baltica
Illustration: Miko Rode, Re:Baltica
Social media: Ieva Strazdiņa and Inese Braže, Re:Baltica
Technical support: Madara Eihe
Autotranslated in English with AI
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