Finland’s largest distribution daily Helsingin Sanomat leads off with further exposés in the case of Helsinki police former anti-drug chief Jari Aarnio -- this time with revelations of hundreds of thousands of undeclared and unaccounted for funds used on a personal home construction project.
The paper reports that investigators have uncovered some 200,000 euros whose origin is not clear. The money was used last year to construct a home for Aarnio’s family in Porvoo, some 50 kilometres east of Helsinki.
Ownership of the family home was registered in the name of the Aarnio’s son, who reported no taxable income. Aarnio was remanded into custody last month under suspicion of accepting bribes from a company supplying surveillance equipment to the police.
Dubious bonus schemes?
The online version of the Turun Sanomat paper coming out of southwest Finland headlines an investigation by the Competition and Consumer Authority into bonus schemes offered by Finnish shopping chains.
The competition authorities will be taking proactive action ahead of the introduction of new competition legislation next year for the retail sector to determine whether some large chains can abuse their leadership position by using the bonus schemes offered to preferred customers.
Some third-party businesses offering benefits to customers based on their membership in bonus schemes are already considering giving up the affiliation. The electricity distribution company Turku Energy says it may discontinue its benefit programme linked to the S-bonus plan offered by the Finnish food retail giant the S Group.
Water worries in Tampere region
The Tampere-based paper Aaumlehti focuses on an immediate local concern, the restoration of normalcy to tap water supplies in Valkeakoski. The daily reports that roughly half of the city had been without potable water since Tuesday because of a leak in the distribution system. However by Wednesday morning just a small number of residents were still without water.
Local officials explained that a major subterranean pipeline had ruptured, causing water levels in the local water tower to fall and resulting in very low pressure in the network. Officials were continuing to organise water distribution points for residents still facing dry taps.
Welcome Christmas break from the tax man
Coming from central Finland, the Jyväskylä-based paper Keskisuomalainen highlights tax return day, when some fortunate or prudent wage earners enjoy a Christmas present from the state in the form of an income tax return.
This year a whopping 3.5 million Finns can look forward to fatter bank balances, while some 700,000 who paid lower tax rates on their monthly wage income last year will have to pay the piper.
