Prosecutors accuse 18 in alleged reindeer theft and laundering case

Prosecutors have charged 18 people in a case alleging that stolen reindeer were re-marked, slaughtered and sold as meat, Yle reports. The charges include aggravated money laundering and fraud, and the case is expected to go before the Lapland District Court next year.

The alleged offences took place mainly in the municipalities of Inari and Utsjoki, in four reindeer herding cooperatives: Näätämö, Vätsäri, Muddusjärvi and Paistunturi. The case involves 11 different offence categories, including firearms offences, aggravated hunting offences and a nature conservation offence.

Yle reports that the investigation concerns potentially hundreds of reindeer stolen in different ways. Police initially investigated the suspected thefts, but could not establish in detail who was involved or when and where the thefts took place. Information about the thefts emerged through telephone surveillance, but could not be used to investigate those offences, and the theft investigation was discontinued on the prosecutor’s decision.

According to the charges, stolen reindeer were made to appear to belong to the accused or people close to them. This was allegedly done by changing the animals’ original ear markings or plastic ear tags to match those of the people accused of laundering them.

The allegations also include selling reindeer meat through legal markets. Yle reports that police suspect meat from stolen reindeer was sold at at least one local grocery shop. A separate health offence charge against a shopkeeper in northern Finland expired because the summons was not served in time.

Some of the accused are also alleged to have claimed predator damage and reindeer damage compensation using false information. According to Yle, some have received tens of thousands of euros in state compensation for predator damage in recent years.

Under the law, handling stolen reindeer, their meat or proceeds from their sale may constitute money laundering if the assets are concealed or converted into apparently legitimate income. The article notes that the threshold for aggravated money laundering in legal practice is around 13,000 to 15,400 euros. Some defendants are described as holding leadership positions in the reindeer industry and the Sámi community. They did not comment on the charges.