Prosecutors drop charges against ex-MP Ano Turtiainen
Tuesday 15th September 2026 on 12:45 in
Finland
Prosecutors will not charge former Member of Parliament Ano Turtiainen with suspected embezzlement or a fundraising offence, Yle reports. Turtiainen and his spouse are already facing charges in court over aggravated financial offences.
Regional prosecutor Noora Voss-Lagerlund said the preliminary investigation had provided probable grounds to suspect embezzlement, but she decided not to bring charges because the sum involved was small.
The suspected embezzlement concerned an 890-euro transfer from the account of the Valta kuuluu kansalle political party to Turtiainen’s spouse’s account. Voss-Lagerlund said a separate embezzlement charge would not have had material significance in the overall case.
Turtiainen will also not be charged over a suspected fundraising offence involving 77,800 euros. The case concerned money collected by the Valta kuuluu kansalle party in 2021 and 2022 without a fundraising permit.
Several other party officials who were suspects in the case will also avoid charges. The party collected the money as donations and support membership fees.
The party’s rules referred to support membership, which formed the basis for the fundraising. According to the prosecutor’s assessment, the rules on support membership were unclear, but there was insufficient evidence that the suspected offence had been committed intentionally. Fundraising offences are punishable only when committed intentionally.
The same charging review also covered a third suspicion involving a 3,100-euro transfer from the party’s account. The prosecutor said there was no evidence of who made the transfer. Because several people had access to the account, there was also insufficient evidence about who benefited from it.
Turtiainen and his spouse travelled to Russia last year and received refugee status there at the end of the year. This autumn, their home in Juva, in South Savonia, was seized for debt enforcement.
Helsingin Sanomat was the first to report the decisions not to bring charges.