Rovaniemi: Finland has sentenced the CEO of a berry company and a Thai broker to prison on charges of human trafficking. A Finnish court has sentenced the former CEO of Polarica, a major wild berry supplier, to two years and six months in prison on 78 counts of human trafficking of Thai berry pickers. This is considered the largest human trafficking case in Finnish history.
According to Thai News Agency, a Lapland district court in Rovaniemi, Finland, has sentenced Jukka Kristo, former CEO of Polarica Marjanhankinta, a major berry supplier, to two years and six months in prison without parole on 78 counts of human trafficking. This is one of the largest human trafficking cases in Finnish history. The court also banned Kristo from holding any business for five years and revoked his military rank.
In addition, Kalyakorn "Durian" Phongphit, a Thai business partner in the same case, was sentenced to nine months in prison. Her sentence was reduced as she had recently been sentenced to three years and six months in prison by the same court late last year for another human trafficking case involving berry pickers. Polarica Marjanhankinta was fined £150,000. Furthermore, both defendants and the company were ordered to jointly pay approximately £500,000 (approximately 19.8 million baht) in financial and emotional compensation to the Thai victims, along with responsibility for legal costs exceeding £400,000.
The case occurred during the 2022 harvest season when a group of Thai workers were lured to Finland to pick wild berries. Most of the workers had only a primary school education and spoke only Thai. They were deceived about the prospects for income and living conditions. The workers were burdened with inflated costs for airfare, visas, food, and transportation, falling into debt with the company even before arriving. They had virtually no income despite working continuously without a break, amidst harsh living conditions, overcrowded and substandard accommodations, and sometimes having to eat raw or spoiled food.
The court found that the circumstances left the workers with no choice but to continue working to repay their debts, which constituted "forced labor and human trafficking." The defendant denies all charges and is preparing to appeal, while Finnish prosecutors are also preparing to appeal for a harsher sentence.
The Polarica case is part of an ongoing crackdown on the exploitation of migrant workers in Finland's berry industry. In September 2025, a Finnish court sentenced Vernu Vasunta, former CEO of Kiantama, to 3 years and 6 months in prison on 62 counts of human trafficking of Thai workers. Furthermore, the Finnish Competition and Consumer Commission (FCCA) found that several berry-picking companies, including Polarica, had illegally operated a "cartel" between 2013 and 2023 to suppress prices and reduce wages for berry pickers.
Following a human trafficking scandal, Finnish authorities implemented new legislation in February 2025, requiring all foreign berry pickers to enter the country as seasonal workers with legal employment contracts and salaries, replacing the previous system where they entered as independent pickers and were vulnerable to exploitation.