Finland Times

 

File Photo – Lehtikuva.

The St Petersburg office of the Finnish dairy company Valio was raided by Russian authorities on Tuesday, reported the Russian news agency Interfax.

 

Earlier in the day, Valio could not confirm the incident and said it was waiting for more information.

 

The Russian news outlet Fontaka reported that men in uniform holding arms went inside Valio’s office in St Petersburg.

 

According to the Russian authorities, the raid was part of an investigation into illegal banking operations involving a criminal group.

 

The communication director of the investigating committee, Vladimir Marki, said in a statement that the criminal group is suspected of illegal banking operations involving transfer of money to the accounts of 20 companies. Valio is one of the companies suspected to be involved in the racket.

 

The criminal group is suspected to have used the accounts of the companies to transfer 45 million rubles which is just under 1 million euros.

 

Valio’s Russian unit said it operates under full compliance of the country’s laws. The units also said it was ready to furnish the authorities with any information necessary.

 

Both the Russian authorities and Valio later confirmed that the raid was not related to the company’s operations.