Thai authorities are suspected of demanding bribes from Finnish berry picking companies.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) suspects that representatives of the Thai Labour Ministry’s Department of Employment (DOE) demanded and received bribes from Finnish berry picking companies from at least 2020 until last year.
According to the NBI, the bribe payments were arranged by local representatives of Finnish berry companies in Thailand. The police suspect that when the wild berry harvesting season ended, the companies in turn billed the Thai labourers for the bribes they had paid.
However, the bureau says, the billing was concealed among other fees without any explanation to the pickers themselves. The alleged bribery came to light during the investigation of human trafficking crimes, which are now subject to court proceedings.
The new details are revealed in the NBI's preliminary investigation material related to the Polarica company's trial, which is set to begin next May. According to NBI Detective Superintendent Teemu Mäntyniemi, parts of the probe are still in progress.
Yle has previously reported that Thai authorities are conducting their own investigation into possible corruption. According to Thai media, two of the Southeast Asian country's former ministers and two senior Labour Ministry officials are suspected of corruption. Finnish police have provided evidence to their Thai counterparts.
Photographic evidence found
According to the preliminary investigation material, the criminal suspicions are based on the report of two Thai coordinators working for the berry industry. Several Finnish berry entrepreneurs and Thai coordinators working for other Finnish berry companies have also reported such illicit fees.
According to a DOE representative interviewed by Thai investigators at the request of Finnish police, the DOE does not officially charge such fees from pickers or companies.
Police also searched smartphones and computers belonging to suspects in Finland and Thailand. This turned up photos of bundles of banknotes and of meetings where money was handed over to a DOE representative, as well as instant message conversations and e-mails confirming the suspicions.
€80 per worker
According to the NBI, for example, during the pandemic summer of 2020, DOE representatives demanded that the Finnish firms make a mandatory payment of 3,000 Thai baht, or about 80 euros, per picker.
The companies wired the funds to their local agents in Thailand, who withdrew the payments in cash and handed them over to a DOE officer in the courtyard of a Thai petrol station. Coordinators from three Finnish companies were present during the payment transaction. Police have found a picture of the handover.
Nearly all berry companies paid up
In 2021, the coordinator of the Finnish berry company that hired the largest number of pickers told police that he had initially refused to make the required extra payment. As a result, hundreds of berry pickers were not allowed to leave Thailand and plane tickets that had been bought for them went unused.
According to the NBI, there is reason to suspect that almost all Finnish berry companies paid such bribes that year.
Bribe demands continued despite ongoing investigation
In 2022, it says, the bribe fee was 2,000 baht per picker, or about 55 euros. That year, a record number of berry pickers came to Finland, almost 4,000. Thus the firms may have paid some 220,000 euros in bribes that year.
According to a local representative, negotiations on the bribe payments took place directly with the Director General of the DOE. One coordinator reported paid the money directly to the general manager in their office.
Despite the human trafficking criminal investigation that started in Finland in the autumn 2022, DOE representatives are suspected of demanding bribes from berry companies in the 2023 picking season as well.
According to the police, in addition to wild berry pickers, DOE representatives have also demanded payment for Thai harvesters who have worked at Finnish strawberry farms with employment contracts.
All Points North has probed the allegations of forced labour and human trafficking in Finland's berry sector. Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
