Rovaniemi Pol Faces Probe over Snowmobile Factory
Ari Ruotsalainen
Image: YLE / Tanja Männistö
The former chair of Rovaniemi's city government is suspected of taking bribes and other wrongdoing.
The National Bureau of Investigation charges that Ari Ruotsalainen of the Centre Party accepted payoffs from the real estate development firm Nova Kiinteistökehitys and misused his authority.
The firm went bankrupt amid allegations of massive, questionable campaign donations to MPs and other politicians.
The suspicions are linked to the granting of zoning permission for a snowmobile factory in the capital of Finnish Lapland in 2007. The NBI says that Ruotsalainen received campaign donations from Nova while considering approval of its application to build the plant.
Police have launched a preliminary investigation into the matter.
Ruotsalainen is now the first deputy chair of the Rovaniemi city council. He said he welcomed the investigation but had no further comment.
YLE