Niinimaa has denied that the act was intentional and did not appear in court.
Janne Niinimaa is a former hockey player who also played in the NHL during his career. Photo from 2014. Jenni Gästgivar
Ex-hockey player Janne Niinimaata48, is accused of aggravated tax fraud in the Helsinki district court.
According to the prosecutor, Niinimaa did not return the pre-filled tax return in 2020. Due to this, too low taxes were imposed on Niinimaa. The total amount of avoided taxes was EUR 54,989.93.
The time of committing the crime is marked as May 5–June 2, 2020. The prosecutor demands a 5-month conditional prison sentence for the former hockey player.
Niinimaa did not appear at the district court’s main hearing on Wednesday. He has denied that the act was intentional.
During his NHL career, Niinimaa represented Philadelphia Flyers and Edmonton Oilers, among others. In addition to the Taala League and his native SM League, he also played in the Swedish and Swiss leagues.
In the national team, Niinimaa won the Finnish national ice hockey team’s first world championship in 1995.
The court will give its verdict later.