A study by the Police University College shows that corruption cases reported to the police in Finland are predominantly forms of corruption other than bribery. The most common suspected corruption cases involve the misuse of funds and information in business operations and public administration.
The Police University College has published the report Poliisin tietoon tulleet korruptioepäilyt Suomessa 2007–2023 (Corruption Crime Reported to the Police in Finland 2007–2023). Based on police crime report data, the study provides a long-term overview of corruption detected in Finland.
During the most recent monitoring period, from 2019 to 2023, a total of 741 corruption cases were recorded. Of these, 13 per cent were related to bribery, a proportion that has remained stable since 2007. The majority of cases involved other forms of corruption, such as misuse of funds, misuse of trade secrets and other information, and the unauthorized use of official information.
“When discussing corruption, attention is often focused on bribery. However, our study shows that the vast majority of cases reported to the police involve other types of corruption. In particular, the misuse of funds and information in working life stands out in the data,” says Vesa Muttilainen, Senior Researcher of the Police University College.
Corruption cases concentrated in everyday working life
The most common benefits associated with corruption were money and information. Money was the sole benefit in more than one-third of cases and information in over one-quarter of cases. Companies were the most common parties involved in examined cases, with more than half of all cases involving a business.
Misuse of funds accounted for nearly a third of all corruption cases. Moreover, an employee, manager, or other person in a position of responsibility was suspected of using an organization’s funds or assets for personal gain. The second most common category was the misuse of information for financial purposes, such as the use of business secrets or customer data in competing activities.
The study also includes brief descriptions of 156 cases randomly selected from the 2019–2023 data. These cases suggest that corruption reported to the police primarily appears to be fragmented, as they represent everyday corruption across a wide range of organizations in society. By contrast, forms of structural corruption, such as “old boys’ networks” or informal decision-making structures, were not widely reflected in the case material.
Suspected corruption cases were identified in sectors covering construction, healthcare, education, local government, security authorities, politics and non-profit organisations. The data also included cases related to police activities, such as unauthorized access to information and the misuse of official positions for private purposes.
Recognizing corruption beyond bribery is essential
The person most likely to report a corruption suspicion to the police was someone directly involved in the case. However, the proportion of reports made by external parties has increased. The study also identified changes in the handling of corruption cases. Between 2019 and 2023, fewer than half of all cases proceeded to prosecutorial consideration, and this proportion has steadily declined. Suspects were typically male, middle-aged, Finnish citizens, and employed as professionals, managers, or other employees.
According to the researchers, anti-corruption measures should focus on access to and control over money and information, as well as specific situations such as resignations and bankruptcies. Corruption detection could also be improved by strengthening the expertise of authorities and other organizations, as well as increasing public awareness.
"It is particularly important to recognize forms of corruption beyond bribery, such as misuse of funds, misuse of information, conflicts of interest, and other abuses of positions of trust," notes Senior Researcher Vesa Muttilainen.
Additionally, improving the monitoring of suspected corruption would support efforts to combat the phenomenon. Research findings should be utilized more extensively as part of Finland’s national situational awareness of corruption.
The translation draft was prepared with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by an expert.
