Appeal court cuts fraud sentence and convicts previously cleared woman

Turku Court of Appeal has reduced the prison sentence of the main offender in a loan fraud case and convicted a woman previously acquitted of aiding the crimes, Yle reported. The frauds caused banks and finance companies losses of about 600,000 euros.

The court reduced Rainer Leif Allan Hedman’s sentence from two years and seven months to two years and four months in prison. Hedman, 34, was convicted of dozens of aggravated and standard fraud offences.

The fraud scheme involved repeated loan applications made in the same person’s name, sometimes only minutes apart and from different locations. The offences and attempted offences took place from August 2023 to April 2024 in Jämsä, Mänttä-Vilppula and Multia.

The appeal court sentenced a 61-year-old woman to one year and eight months’ suspended imprisonment for aiding the offences. The Pirkanmaa District Court had dismissed all charges against her, finding the evidence insufficient.

The appeal court found that she had topped up a phone used in the crimes, helped withdraw fraudulently obtained money in cash, kept documents connected to the offences in her home and received part of the proceeds. It rejected the prosecution’s claim that she was a co-perpetrator, as there was no evidence she had submitted loan applications or misled the victims. Her lack of a previous criminal record was also cited in support of a suspended sentence.

She was ordered, jointly with the other convicted people, to forfeit to the state proceeds of crime of up to nearly 189,000 euros. She was not ordered to pay compensation to the victims, unlike the main offenders.

The ruling is not final. An application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court can be made until 27 November.