2 suspected of stealing parking fees since 1990s in Turku

Two employees of the city of Turku, western Finland, in charge of emptying parking automats were suspected of putting part of the money into their own pockets since the 1990s, media reported on Thursday.

Criminal police told media that five to ten people outside the city payroll were assisting in arranging the transfer of revenue. The police estimated the stolen funds amounted to hundreds of thousands of euros.

Minna Arve, the mayor of Turku, admitted on Thursday the dishonesty of city employees had damaged the image of the city.

City officials told national broadcaster Yle that one third of the parking fees in Turku are paid through mobile phones, but the rest of the some 3 million euros annually still drops in as cash.

Kirsi Mononen, the leading lawyer of the Finnish municipal association, expressed surprise that the internal control and supervision in Turku had faltered to this extent. "Probably the people who got the money were highly skillful as the stealing had continued for such a log time", she said.

Yle reported that in the capital Helsinki, majority of parking automats already accept only a mobile pay or a bank card, and no cash.