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10.3.2007

Minister of Justice Leena Luhtanen pays campaign expenses under the table

Tags: Uncategorized — Author: @ 11:57 am

Social Democrat MP Leena Luhtanen is my new personal hero! She’s not afraid to evade taxes and pay for things “under the table”. Good for her!! Oh, wait wait, she’s a Social Democrat, who are extremely pro-tax, and she’s our Minister of Justice. Ain’t nothing worse than a hypocrite

An article in the Iltalehti paper charges that 2004 municipal elections campaign expenses for Justice Minister Leena Luhtanen have been paid under the table. Luhtanen has contested the report.

The alleged tax evasion occurred during the municipal elections of 2004. The Minister’s husband Juhani Luhtanen reportedly paid nearly one thousand euros in cash to a supplier for campaign advertising.

The graphics entrepreneur said that he later made the VAT payment related to Luhtanen’s settlement, so he would not be accused of tax offences. He also said that during the time of his assignment he received several reminders that it was customary to settle campaign work without paying taxes.

leena_luhtanen_sdp.jpg

  • http://www.finlandforthought.net Phil

    And yes yes, before any else says it, “Worst Photoshop job ever!” :-D I’m not sure what my point was.

  • Anonymous

    “Ain’t nothing worse than a hypocrite…”

    Can think of something that would make a libertarian a hypocrite, if he would do it? It’s ok to use public services, evade taxes, pirate stuff… Only thing I can think of is if you murder someone?

  • Anonymous

    [off-topic]

    Wow, YLE is being über-PC; Iltalehti is hardly a paper, it’s an obvious tabloid just like Ilta-Sanomat.

    Not to say that they couldn’t be right about a thing or two occasionally, but neither is exactly known to be reliable news sources.

    [/off-topic]

  • Punter

    Does it really surprise anyone though? This “boys-club” society looks after and protects their own. Pay your taxes and shut up unless you’re one of us… So where do the electoral funds come from? Still waiting.
    Clue.It’s a lot harder to find than writing “vero name and place” and sending an SMS to 16400. That only covers us normal folk.

  • Anonymous

    Remember, there is no corruption in Finland!

    Next year Finns will no doubt vote themselves as being the least corrupt in the world.

    My arse!

  • presso

    She should step down.

    And Kimmo Sasi should be prosecuted for reckless driving. How can a person who “falls asleep” while driving keep his driving license.

    Two crooks within three days.

  • Pave

    Punter -

    Just because you don’t hear a lot about the tax evasion by ordinary people (which is VEERY common) doesn’t mean only politicians (and other famous people) do it. And yes, you can find even Luhtanen’s tax records with an SMS or what was your point there? Of course you can’t find all the records like campaign stuff and inheritance tax…

    That said, campaign records should be more readily available and she should resign if found guilty.

    Oh and Phil that was maybe your best photoshop ever :D

  • Kristian

    Just because you don’t hear a lot about the tax evasion by ordinary people…

    Good point. Generally, I’d surmise it’s quite common for small businesses to evade über-high Finnish taxes.

    It’s a matter of survival, considering the über-high operating cost (equipment, materials, etc.) which the tax system causes in the first place.

  • Punter

    Of course you can’t find all the records like campaign stuff and inheritance tax… Well why not? Shpuldn’t be too much to ask in an open society?

  • Jaakko

    How and why did you pick Ben Z, Zahra Abdullah, Zahra Osman-Sovala, ??? and Jussi Halla-aho? Just pure randomness?

  • Keksi

    Great Phil. I’m sure Iltalehti would hire you with those PS -skills you have :D

  • Antti rn

    There is an open slot for PS’ing political satirist in Finland. Phil should seriously consider…

    Well, in Finland we have this thing called puoluetuki. (welfare for political parties with MP’s) and political press subsidies, which covers all party papers, excluding some lazy leftists, who were not able to get their asses up to submit the application in time…

    I bet they apply the ‘puoluetuki’ logic here and make all political campaign work tax-free, as it is basic requirement in democracy and civil society and we don’t want our elected representatives to be in the pockets of big corporations and trade unions, do we?

  • gopha

    “Worst Photoshop job ever!”

    Actually, it’s a very clean picture. Work on cutting elements out of the original. :D

  • Anon.

    Considering that Ms Luhtanen’s ministry is also responsible for the country’s elections, any impropriety in regard to election funding is particularly damaging. In the UK ministers quit over these sorts of allegations – I think Ms Luhtanen should certainly do the same.

  • http://www.iesaf.fi Karhu

    Minister of Justice Leena Luhtanen pays…under the table..
    .
    But “She” did not pay..in election campaigns the candidates rarely actauly handle the costs/payments..that dirty task is handled by their Agent(s)….in this case Leena’s agent was her husband.

    He said that until this news broke she was not even aware that there had been such a payment, let alone the details of how and when it had been paid.

    I wonder what she said to him when she heard about his payment methods..

  • http://www.finlandforthought.net Phil

    Yeah, and Dick Cheney is innocent too!

  • Pave

    It doesn’t really matter whether she was involved or not. If the fact is that she got elected when illegal ways were used, she should resign.

  • Punter

    She is ultimately responsible for her campaign and the people hired to do it on her behalf. Bad judgement=bad management=resign or be fired. Not in non-corrupt Finland though……

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