Financial Crime World

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Preventing Economic Crime: The Role of Customs and Law Enforcement Authorities in Finland

The customs and law enforcement authorities in Finland play a crucial role in preventing economic crime. In this article, we will discuss their roles, the societal impact of their efforts, and the statistics related to investigations, prosecutions, sanctions, and regulation offences.

Customs’ Role in Preventing Economic Crime

Customs is responsible for investigating suspected economic offences that fall under its jurisdiction. These offences typically involve:

  • Tax fraud or aggravated tax fraud
  • Offences involving forgeries
  • Customs clearance-related offences
  • Environmental offences
  • Accounting offences

Societal Impact of Economic Crime Prevention by Customs

The societal impact of economic crime prevention by Customs is significant. In 2023, the value of recovered proceeds of economic crime totalled 8.2 million euros. The figure for the previous year was 18.2 million euros, indicating a substantial decrease in recoveries.

Investigations and Prosecutions

Customs investigated a total of 633 tax fraud cases in 2023, which is 51 cases more than in 2022. A total of 107 cases of aggravated tax fraud were detected, which is 15 cases less than the previous year. Customs collaborates with other law enforcement authorities to combat intra-Community VAT fraud.

Sanctions and Regulation Offences

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, sanctions against Russia have been a significant phenomenon. In 2023, some 8,000 cases of goods transports between Finland and Russia were processed under monitoring of sanctions based on customs declarations. Of these transports, Customs inspected more than 1,600.

Prosecutor’s Duty

The prosecutor’s duty is to enforce criminal liability. In the case of shadow economy phenomena, this means that the prosecutor decides whether there are grounds for deeming that the preconditions of a criminal offence have been met.

District Courts’ Role

District courts decide cases of financial crime as the court of first instance. The number of cases of financial crime decided by district courts has remained level in recent years. The most common financial offence decided by district courts is aggravated accounting offence.