Melnikov denies tax fraud and secret wages in Airiston Helmi case

Russian millionaire Pavel Melnikov has strongly denied allegations of tax fraud and the payment of undeclared wages as he appeared before the Court of Appeal in the Airiston Helmi case, Yle reports.

Melnikov, who was sentenced to a suspended prison term in February 2025, is being heard in Turku on Thursday and Friday. The Court of Appeal proceedings began at the end of August and will continue until November.

The Southwest Finland District Court sentenced Melnikov to one year and six months of suspended imprisonment for aggravated tax fraud and aggravated accounting fraud. Most of the other charges were dismissed.

Melnikov told Yle that he had not prepared for the hearing because his health had been poor for the past two years.

“I have never evaded taxes or paid undeclared wages,” Melnikov said.

Police seized around 3.5 million euros in cash from safes during the Airiston Helmi investigation. Melnikov said the money was his own and intended for his personal use, not for paying undeclared wages.

He said the cash was not a large amount compared with the annual turnover of his company, which he put at 200 million euros. He also said that the Finnish state would probably not have returned the money to him if it had been illegally obtained.

The prosecutor has taken the opposite view, repeatedly arguing during the appeal proceedings that Airiston Helmi was a cover company through which Melnikov paid undeclared wages to employees.

Melnikov said he regarded himself primarily as an investor and shareholder. He claimed he learned that he held a position on Airiston Helmi’s board only from the police investigation material.

He also told the court that he had submitted two independent expert reports on signatures, one from Russia and one from Latvia. According to Melnikov, the reports showed that signatures identifying him as the company’s board chair and founder had been forged.

Melnikov said people he trusted had used a copy of his passport and a copy of the company’s articles of association to sign documents in his name.

He described the legal process as extremely burdensome and said it had seriously damaged his health. He also said the situation had worsened after he learned that his own employees had stolen more than four million euros from him while remaining employed for another five years. According to Melnikov, the theft case has been heard by a court in Hong Kong.

“My nervous system completely collapsed because of this. I have no appetite and can barely sleep,” he said.

The alleged theft is not being examined in the Airiston Helmi trial. Melnikov faces charges of aggravated tax fraud, aggravated accounting fraud and aggravated employment pension insurance premium fraud.

Melnikov also sharply criticised police raids carried out at Airiston Helmi in 2018, saying he believed the operation had been planned in advance. The raids attracted extensive media attention at the time.