Police investigates PAF in Finland

December 14, 2005

PAF, Åland's gambling monopoly, has been challenged again by Finnish authorities because of an attempt to offer internet gambling to the Finnish mainland. In Mainland Finland, the state-owned gambling institution RAY ("Raha-automaattiyhdistys" in Finnish) holds a legal monopoly of gambling. RAY gives all profits to charity.

At the beginning of this year, PAF was sentenced for violation of gambling law. On December 14, the Interior ministry of Finland put PAF under police investigation again. Finland's interior minister Kari Rajamäki said that PAF has continued its gambling in Finland and ignored its last sentence.

PAF has filed a lawsuit at Åland's local court with the state of Finland and the Finnish interior ministry entered as defendants. According to PAF's CEO Lars Porko, the association wants to clear up once and for all who is in fact right in the dispute.

Åland is an autonomous part of Finland and as such subject to certain privileges, one of which is the existence of PAF in the first place.