HELSINKI, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Helsinki Court of Appeal has sentenced the former head of anti-drug squad of the Helsinki Police Department to three years in prison, Finnish media reported on Friday.
Jari Aarnio has been convicted of aggravated fraud, aggravated bribe-taking and aggravated dereliction of duty, reported the Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat.
In June 2015, Helsinki District Court sentenced Aarnio to one year and eight months on the same charges. Because of appeals made by both the public prosecutor and Aarnio, the Helsinki Court of Appeal reconsidered the case.
Aarnio's prison term has been increased, as his offences was exceptional severe, very harmful and particularly well planned, according to the court of appeal.
The conviction is related to Aarnio's role in Trevoc company, which sold monitoring devices to law enforcement agencies in Finland.
Aanio was alleged of taking bribes from Trevoc, as he had received a stake in the company and used the position for his own financial benefits.
He was also suspected of abuse of an official position, as he acted obstructively in Helsinki police's procurement and attempted to influence the police department to acquire products from Trevoc.
In addition to Aarnio, Pasi Patama, managing director of Trevoc, and Jouni Viitanen, retired officer from the Finnish Security Intelligence Service, have also been handed harsher convictions by the court of appeal.
According to Finnish national broadcaster Yle, Aarnio could face 11 years of an additional imprisonment, due to eight drug-related charges against him. The judgment of the case will be made in early November this year.
Aarnio has been under investigation for accepting bribes since November 2013. The investigation then broadened to cover possible drug shipments and suspected involvement in organized crime in December 2013.
