Finland's Supreme Court upholds Vastaamo data breach conviction, rejects appeal

Finland's Supreme Court has definitively closed the legal chapter on the Vastaamo case by rejecting Aleksanteri Kivimäki's request for leave to appeal. This decision on Monday means the earlier ruling by the Helsinki Court of Appeal stands as final, concluding a lengthy and significant legal battle.

The Supreme Court's refusal to hear the appeal marks the end of the extensive legal proceedings concerning the massive data breach and extortion crimes linked to the Vastaamo psychotherapy center. In February, the Court of Appeal had sentenced Kivimäki to six years and 11 months in prison, just one month shy of the maximum penalty allowed by law for the offenses he was convicted of.

While the Court of Appeal slightly reduced the sentence by one month due to Kivimäki reaching compensation agreements with numerous victims, he had consistently denied any wrongdoing. The original data breach occurred in November 2018 when Vastaamo's patient database was illegally copied. Subsequently, in the fall of 2020, Vastaamo and its clients were subjected to extortion, with highly sensitive patient information being disseminated online.

Kivimäki was found guilty of aggravated data breach, attempted aggravated extortion, distributing private information invasively 9,231 times, attempting aggravated extortion 20,745 times, and 20 counts of aggravated extortion. His lawyer, Peter Jaari, stated he could not comment on the Supreme Court's decision as he had not yet reached his client and was unaware of his whereabouts. Jaari had previously mentioned in February that Kivimäki was abroad following the Court of Appeal's verdict.