The Helsinki Court of Appeal has rendered its verdict in one of the largest insider dealing cases in Finland. The former key management of the Finnish telecommunications operator Jippii Group plc was found guilty of gross misuse of inside information, communications fraud and false accounting and was sentenced to up to two years unconditional imprisonment. Further, the company accountant was found guilty of assistance to false accounting. The Court also ordered the company to pay a corporate fine of EUR 200,000 and a forfeiture of EUR 85,000.
The matter concerned the stock exchange disclosures and false accounting of the company, which served to give a more positive outlook on the financial status of the company when it was listed in 2001. This is the second insider dealing case in Finland demonstrating the strict approach taken by the courts in cases concerning misuse of inside information.