Jussi Salonoja is suspected of a serious crime, the giant heir who lost his fortune denies the accusations

From the past major investor Jussi Salonojaa is suspected of a serious crime related to the activities of the foundation that bears his last name, according to HS’s information.

Special prosecutor of the prosecutor’s district of Southern Finland Timo Haikonen confirm information.

“A charge has been filed in the case. The crime is gross embezzlement,” Haikonen reports.

“The case will be handled by the West Uusimaa District Court, which will decide on holding the main hearing in due course.”

Millions of assets of the foundation headed by Salonoja are suspected to have been illegally transferred to a close circle. The prosecutor’s request for punishment for Salonoja will remain secret for the time being.

“The subpoena application and the preliminary investigation documents will not be made public at this stage. Therefore, the statement of sanctions included in it is not public information yet,” says Haikonen.

Salonoja, known as the recipient of a giant inheritance, denies the accusations.

“As I already commented on the case earlier, the transfer of this money has not been connected with any kind of illegal intentions,” claims Salonoja, 49, who has been living in Thailand for years.

“In no way do I consider myself guilty of a crime.”

Investigation began to progress in the beginning of 2024, when the Finnish Patent and Registration Board’s (PRH) foundation control raided the office of the Salonoja foundation.

Based on the documents it received, PRH believed that the foundation had granted considerable loans to Salonoja and his company. Salonoja serves as the chairman of the board of the foundation.

PRH interpreted the foundation’s assets as having been transferred to related parties and made an investigation request to the police. PRH suspected gross embezzlement and gross accounting crime in the case. Last year, the case progressed from the police preliminary investigation to the prosecution, which has now been completed.

The purpose of the Salonoja Foundation, founded in 1988, is to promote the preservation of Finnish cultural tradition and medical research.

According to Salonoja, the money transfer involved a loan that was meant for the foundation’s investment activities, its “wealth increase” at the end of the last decade.

“I already told the police that I had received a loan of one million euros from the foundation. My intention was to invest the loan based on expected returns so that we could improve the foundation’s assets,” says Salonoja.

“Through my foreign company, we were about to start a big project designed to increase the foundation’s wealth. Everything was practically already agreed upon.”

The debt collector According to Salonoja, the corona pandemic that started in 2020 and lasted for a couple of years hit the plan hard.

“We had various receivables, which we believed we would get back quickly. When the pandemic started, the whole world froze economically, and all of a sudden, none of the promises were kept,” Salonoja claims.

“The agreed project was left to wait for better times. It was a serious setback for my company and for the projects already started in 2019. The final death blow was the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine that started in February 2022,” the former hockey influencer continues.

At the beginning of the millennium, Salonoja received a property inheritance of more than one hundred million euros from his great-uncle, the founder of the food company HK From Erkki Salonoja. In June 2024, in an interview with IS, he told how he had lost almost all of his property.

Earlier in this millennium, Salonoja was the owner of the Espoo clubs Blues and Espoo United.