Three Finnish citizens are suspected of operating a sex services website and laundering millions of euros, according to Finland's National Bureau of Investigation NBI.
The Finnish men, the main suspects in a major, years-long international probe, are being detained by authorities in Spain for questioning, the NBI said. The men are suspected of having laundered up to 40 million euros gained from criminal activities since They are also the focus of an NBI preliminary investigation into aggravated pimping crimes thought to have been carried out in Finland. Meanwhile, Spanish authorities are investigating the trio for money laundering and participation in organised crime activities including human trafficking.
All of the suspects had permanent addresses in Spain but were abroad when they were detained. At the same time the NBI is looking into suspicions of serious aggravated pimping crimes in Finland," Ihaksinen said. After that, it will be possible to see what happens with a criminal case in Finland," he explained. One of the suspects has a criminal conviction record for similar crimes that he is currently suspected of, according to Ihaksinen.
However, the detective would not reveal the ages, professions or where in Finland they had previously lived. The NBI began looking into the suspected crime group in , while the international investigation started in The joint investigative team of Finnish, Swedish and Spanish authorities was established the following year. The investigation has been going on for a long time and continues with, among other things, interrogating suspects," Ihaksinen stated in a release. The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, better known as Europol, reported that the main Finnish suspect was based in Marbella, Spain where he is suspected of having managed a sex services website.
EU criminal justice agency Eurojust announced Wednesday that the operation included human trafficking in a scheme bringing women, mostly from Nigeria, to Finland and Sweden to work as prostitutes.
