The National Bureau of Investigations says it’s wrapping up an investigation into the man who headed the United Brotherhood crime gang.
During the course of the investigation officers from a number of different forces seized dozens of weapons in Helsinki which they believe were used in thefts across the country; caught the suspected crime boss on camera going to retrieve ecstasy tables from the gang’s Tuusula production facility; and say he used crime proceeds to build two detached homes and a garage on a plot of land in Porvoo.
“The pre-trial investigation reveals that the suspect has controlled the drug use of gang members, instructed members in dealing with the authorities, and has been a real beneficiary of the offenses committed by a criminal organization” says Kimmo Sainio from the National Bureau of Investigation.
The suspected United Brotherhood leader, a man born in 1972 but not yet officially named, committed crimes including money laundering, drugs and firearms offenses, robbery and fraud. He is also thought to have committed a serious assault on one of his gang members.
Investigators think the criminal enterprise generated €2.7 million over a two year period; although over several more years €700,000 was earmarked to buy real estate, and hundreds of thousands went through the suspect’s personal bank accounts.
“We suspect that many people have been involved in covering up where the money came from for the property and the construction work, as well as obscuring who the real owner of the property was. In addition to the main suspect, a total of 15 people are suspected of committing gross money laundering or money laundering as well as gross fraud or fraud” says Sainio.
Finnish authorities cooperated with law enforcement agencies in Germany, Spain, Estonia, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Colombia, Croatia and Serbia in the course of their investigation.
The case will be transferred to the Prosecutor’s Office in Southern Finland by the end of January.
