Finnish prosecutors announced a separate extortion-related charge on 15 September 2025 against a 28-year-old foreign national accused of helping attempt to extort the psychotherapy provider Vastaamo. The suspect denied the offence. This is not a conviction, and the person is not Aleksanteri Kivimäki, whom a district court convicted in the main Vastaamo case in 2024.
What happened in the Vastaamo case?
The case began with a suspected intrusion into Vastaamo’s systems in 2018, but the blackmail and public exposure came later. According to Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, Vastaamo received a threat in September 2020 demanding a ransom in exchange for not publishing customer information. In late October, customer records appeared online, including on the Tor network, and individual customers also received ransom emails.
Police advised customers not to pay: payment could not guarantee that their compromised information would remain private. Investigators also said they did not know whether the same sender had targeted both the clinic and individual customers.
Detective Superintendent Tero Muurman of the National Bureau of Investigation said: “This is extremely unfortunate for the victims, and we would like to emphasise that they should by no means blame themselves for becoming victims of the incident.”
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How did the main case proceed?
| Date and stage | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2018 — suspected intrusion | Police said the suspected computer break-in occurred in 2018. |
| September–October 2020 — threats and publication | Vastaamo reported a ransom demand after receiving a threat to publish customer information. Customer records were later published online, and individual customers received ransom emails. |
| 31 August 2023 — investigation referred | Police said the main investigation was complete and had been referred to prosecutors for consideration of charges. Finnish Police reported examining one petabyte of data and forwarding more than 23,000 victim offence records. The petabyte figure describes data examined during the investigation, not the size of the stolen patient database. |
| 18 October 2023 — main-case charges | The prosecution submitted an application for a summons to the District Court of Western Uusimaa. Its announcement listed alleged counts against Kivimäki; these were charges, not findings of guilt. |
| 30 April 2024 — conviction | Länsi-Uusimaa District Court convicted Aleksanteri Kivimäki and sentenced him to six years and three months in prison. The court described its assessment as based on the evidence considered together, rather than on a single technical clue. |
| 15 September 2025 — separate charge | Prosecutors announced a charge against a different suspect for allegedly aiding attempted aggravated extortion directed at Vastaamo in 2020. The suspect denied the offence. |
Who was convicted, and what did the court decide?
The 2024 conviction was of Aleksanteri Kivimäki in the main Vastaamo case. Länsi-Uusimaa District Court’s release records convictions for aggravated computer intrusion, attempted aggravated extortion, 9,231 counts of aggravated dissemination of information infringing personal privacy, 20,745 counts of attempted aggravated extortion, and 20 counts of aggravated extortion.
Those are the court’s 2024 conviction totals. They differ from the totals in the prosecution’s 2023 announcement, which listed 9,598 alleged aggravated dissemination counts, 21,316 alleged attempted aggravated extortion counts, and 20 aggravated extortion counts, in addition to allegations of aggravated computer intrusion and attempted aggravated extortion. The two sets of numbers refer to different procedural stages; the earlier figures should not be presented as the number of convictions.
What is the separate 2025 charge?
The September 2025 announcement concerns a different person and a separate investigation. Prosecutors charged a 28-year-old foreign national with aiding attempted aggravated extortion against Vastaamo during the period from 28 September to 23 October 2020. The accused denied the offence. A charge is an allegation to be decided through legal proceedings, not proof of guilt.
The prosecution said the pre-trial report would become public after the matter was heard by the district court. The official information available for this account does not establish a later hearing outcome, so the suspect should not be described as convicted.
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What happened to victims’ compensation claims?
The district court said compensation claims would be handled in later proceedings, separate from the criminal case. Its release did not state a final compensation outcome.
What the investigation figures do—and do not—mean
- One petabyte of data examined — Finnish Police, 2023. This is the volume examined in the main police investigation, not a measurement of the stolen database.
- More than 23,000 victim offence records referred — Finnish Police, 2023. Police departments compiled and referred these records for consideration of charges; this is not the same measure as a count of complaints.
- Charge counts and conviction counts are not interchangeable. The prosecution’s 2023 announcement and the district court’s 2024 release give different totals for several offences because they describe different stages of the case.
Detective Chief Inspector Marko Leponen, the investigation’s head at Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, said: “The major goal of the investigation was to establish the course of events and identify the offender in order to bring him to justice and make it possible for the victims to exercise their full rights.”
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is known about the case’s later status?
The 2025 prosecution announcement confirms the separate charge and the suspect’s denial, but the sources available here do not establish what happened at a later hearing. They also do not establish whether the 2024 conviction was appealed or reviewed. Those outcomes should not be inferred from the conviction or charge announcements alone.
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