Finnish authority investigates Nuorisosäätiö foundation’s leadership

The Finnish Patent and Registration Office has opened an investigation into the activities of Nuorisosäätiö, a foundation that rents its apartments to young people at affordable rates, following reports by Yle’s MOT investigative programme.

The review concerns business dealings by Jari Laine, the foundation’s board chair, that are partly linked to Nuorisosäätiö. The Foundations Act prohibits foundations from providing financial benefits to people or entities in their close circle.

Outi Teräskallio, team leader of the Patent and Registration Office’s foundation supervision unit, said the authority’s action was prompted by articles published by MOT. She declined to comment in detail while the process is ongoing.

MOT reported in February and April 2026 on Laine’s business dealings. The April report examined an apartment building personally owned by Laine, where apartments have been offered for rent through Nuorisosäätiö. The case raised questions about whether the public-benefit foundation was being used to advance the business interests of its leader.

The Patent and Registration Office launched its supervisory action in May 2026, shortly after the MOT reports were published. The authority is responsible for ensuring that foundations comply with their own rules and with the Foundations Act. It can begin supervision on its own initiative or in response to a request.

Nuorisosäätiö confirmed that it had been informed that the supervisory case had been opened. Chief executive Kimmo Pihlman said the foundation had not yet received a request for information or more detailed information about the matter.

“We can comment on the grounds for the supervisory case once we have received more detailed information from the Patent and Registration Office about what the matter concerns, as well as any possible request for information,” Pihlman wrote in an email to MOT.

Pihlman said Nuorisosäätiö had complied with the Foundations Act, its own rules and the principles of good governance. He said the foundation’s decisions had been made in its interests, conflicts of interest had been properly taken into account and outside experts had been used in key decisions.

Laine has led Nuorisosäätiö since 2018, when the foundation was at the centre of a major criminal investigation. The case resulted in prison sentences for former foundation leaders Aki Haaro and Perttu Nousiainen, as well as businesspeople who had conducted transactions with Nuorisosäätiö. Haaro’s conviction is not yet final, as the case is continuing in the Court of Appeal.

MOT has also reported on other transactions linked to Laine and the foundation. A company owned by Laine acquired an apartment building in Mäntsälä after Nuorisosäätiö had sought millions of euros in compensation from the building’s previous owner. The dispute was settled in an unusual arrangement in which Laine effectively represented both sides.

Although the Mäntsälä building is privately owned by Laine, apartments there have been offered for rent through Nuorisosäätiö. Laine told MOT in April that he had acted in the foundation’s interests and had recused himself from Nuorisosäätiö board decisions related to the Mäntsälä project.

Laine has not been suspected of any crimes and has no connection to the criminal case involving Nuorisosäätiö’s previous leadership, according to MOT. The foundation has also received significant amounts of taxpayers’ money during its history, including for property acquisitions.