WinCapita

The investment company had been in operation since 2005 under the name "WinClub". The company was registered in Panama. It changed its name to WinCapita when the MTV3 television channel reported in 2007 that the police were investigating a pyramid scheme. The ongoing investigation had little effect on the club's membership, which continued to rise quickly. The club published reports to its members, where it claimed the media had made a mistake and the claims were out of line. The operations continued as WinCapita until 7 March 2008. On this day, the web site of the company went offline and the chief suspect, Hannu Kailajärvi, consequently disappeared from the public.

Kailajärvi was arrested in early December 2008 in Nässjö, Sweden. He had been hiding in a small cottage that had been acquired for him by a Sweden-residing person with a Finnish name. Kailajärvi was believed to have lived at least half a year in the cottage, telling his neighbours that he was renovating the house for a famous Finnish opera singer. Swedish police found three mobile phones in the cottage, and an Internet connection had been installed.

Criminal investigation

In November, 2009, the investigation was ongoing, and the main suspect was held for trial in Finland. Another suspect, who is thought to have had a more minor role in the scheme, was also being held after being arrested at the airport when returning from Thailand.

In late October, 2009 another suspect was arrested in the WinCapita case, this time by the Thai police. He is said to have had a central role in the scheme. A warrant for his arrest was declared in absentia, and an Interpol red notice was simultaneously issued.

Trial

The trial against the chief suspect Hannu Kailajärvi and his female associate began in February 2011 in the District Court of Vantaa. The accused were charged with aggravated fraud and a money collection offence. The prosecutor sought a minimum of five years in prison for Kailajärvi and forfeiting about six million euros to the state as criminal proceeds. Compensation to the victims will be tried in a separate case after the criminal trial has concluded, as will the criminal case against those up to 600 individuals that have been suspected of locally advancing the club.

A total of five people are suspected of involvement in the central organization of the scheme, but three of them remain at large, and could face court proceedings later. Kailajärvi and his female associate denied all charges, pleading that the proceeds were legally acquired as in any other business. The product that the company had been selling was a "signaling system", that the members could use in their own currency trading. According to the defence, the club did not ever involve itself in currency trading because the development of the automatic currency trading software had not finished.

Claims for damages in the court proceedings total to 37 million euros. In December 2011, the district court found Kailajärvi guilty of aggravated fraud and sentenced him to the maximum sentence of four years in prison. His female associate and former partner received a one year's suspended sentence. Kailajärvi appealed the decision. In February 2013, the Court of Appeal of Helsinki found Kailajärvi again guilty of aggravated fraud and also additionally of a money collection offence, and sentenced him to five years in prison, with his female associate receiving a 15-month suspended sentence for assisting.

Kailajärvi applied for a leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court upheld the verdict, 5 years imprisonment with no parole for aggravated fraud and illegal fundraising. Kailajärvi was released on parole in April 2014, and is writing a book about the case.