Tampere Startup Executive Convicted of Aggravated Grant Fraud Over €17,000 in COVID Support
A Tampere startup executive was convicted of aggravated grant fraud after the company received overlapping COVID-era grants worth about €17,000; he received a five-month suspended sentence and the company a €2,000 fine.
The Pirkanmaa district court found that a Tampere startup had received overlapping COVID-era grants from the ELY Centre and Business Finland worth about €17,000, Aamulehti reports.
The company applied for pandemic support from both agencies and received payments for project costs that inspections later showed had been covered twice. The executive denied intentional wrongdoing, saying he had only signed the applications rather than assembled them. Judges stressed a strong duty of care when applying for public funds and concluded the acts were intended to secure a substantial benefit.
He received a five-month suspended sentence. The company was ordered to pay a €2,000 corporate fine. The financial loss had already been compensated and the verdict is not final.
The ruling follows the prosecutor's earlier request for a suspended sentence in the case. The court noted that aggravated grant fraud is a relatively rare charge in Finland, though a surge of COVID-era applications has pushed related case numbers up in 2024 and 2025.
Earlier coverage
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