Woman sentenced for embezzlement and forgery at Oma Säästöpankki in South Ostrobothnia

A district court in South Ostrobothnia has sentenced a woman, previously employed in managerial roles at Oma Säästöpankki, to one year and six months of conditional imprisonment, as well as 90 days of community service for serious embezzlement and forgery. The court determined that the conditional sentence was insufficient given the severity of the crimes and thus imposed community service as well.

According to the prosecutor, the woman embezzled approximately €150,000 from two customers’ accounts between 2023. During the trial, she acknowledged the prosecutor’s description of the offenses. The woman concealed her actions by stopping account statements from being sent to a customer and generated false cash receipts for transfers. Additionally, she forged customers’ signatures.

Moreover, over the years, the woman embezzled funds from her father, for whom she managed financial affairs, and stole from a joint account with her late mother. The prosecutor estimated the total benefit from her embezzlement at about €123,000, from which she later returned €41,000 to her father. Because of her actions, her father’s bills went to debt collection. She admitted to embezzling around €40,000 from her father and his deceased wife, and was ordered to pay €30,000 as compensation. The bank has compensated its customers for their losses.

In court, the woman cited a diagnosed gambling addiction, expressed remorse for her actions, and stated that she sought treatment at a rehabilitation clinic immediately after the crimes were uncovered. The verdict is not yet final.

This situation follows reports from April about charges of serious embezzlement and forgery against a former employee of Oma Säästöpankki. The bank’s CEO indicated that the total estimated loss due to suspected crimes is around €150,000, and he was dismissed from his position in June amid allegations of fraudulent conduct within the bank’s management. The suspected crimes reportedly took place between February 2019 and October 2023.