Finnish fraudsters exploit deposit system with fake receipts
Two thirty-year-olds from Finland were sentenced to four months of suspended prison time for defrauding grocery stores using forged deposit receipts.
Finnish police detained the men who, for about two months, used counterfeit slips to defraud stores of over 3,000 euros (about $3,200).
According to the newspaper "Iltalehti," the fraudsters exchanged fake receipts for cash dozens of times in the supermarkets of the largest Jumbo shopping center in Vantaa near Helsinki. The maximum value of a single refund was over 130 euros (about $140).
The fake slips were so well-made that cashiers couldn't detect the fraud. The police described them as "professionally" crafted. This allowed the men to defraud money without hindrance for a longer period of time.
Caught in the act
The fraudsters were caught in the act. Additional forged receipts were found in their car. Furthermore, one of the men had a laptop with professional graphic software installed and a portable receipt roll printer. The court did not believe his claims that the computer did not belong to him, especially since it was logged into his unique personal account.
The court sentenced the men to four months of suspended prison time and ordered them to cover the merchants' losses. The state also decided to confiscate the computer. The district court's verdict became final after an appeal was rejected by a higher court.
The deposit system has been in place for years in Finland
According to the Polish Press Agency, Finland has been using a container deposit system for over 70 years. This system was introduced during the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952, initially covering glass bottles. In the 1980s, it was extended to plastic bottles, and in the 1990s to aluminum cans.
Currently, Finland, with a population of about 5.5 million, boasts one of the highest packaging recycling rates in the world: around 95% for cans, 90% for plastic bottles, and 87% for glass bottles are returned and recycled.
About 4,000 reverse vending machines are operating in the country, mainly in grocery stores. Deposits range from 10 euro cents (about 11 cents) for a small can to 40 euro cents (about 43 cents) for a large plastic bottle. After returning the containers, the machine prints a receipt that can be presented at the store's checkout.
