Shoplifting "fines" bring Tokmanni an extra €500,000

The retailer sends thieves an 80-euro bill on top of demands for reimbursement for the value of the pilfered items.

The inside of a Tokmanni store. — Image: Silja Viitala / Yle

Yle News

16.7. 14:08

Finnish retail chain Tokmanni collected roughly 500,000 euros last year by imposing private "fines" on shoplifters.

Tokmanni demands that anyone caught stealing pay not only the value of the stolen goods but also an additional 80-euro "investigation fee."

The charge was imposed in thousands of cases last year.

"We recorded 6,200 shoplifting incidents last year. Every single one resulted in an investigation fee," Jukka Oinonen, Tokmanni's head of security, told Yle.

That means the half a million in recovered fees was generated from 6,200 shoplifting incidents.

While some offenders initially objected to the payment, none had ultimately refused to settle the fee, according to Oinonen.

€6 theft triggers €80 fee

The controversy surrounding Tokmanni's fees intensified after a case involving a 13-year-old boy who stole an energy drink and a deodorant with a friend from the retailer's Tornio store.

The boy's father visited the store to pay for the stolen items, which were worth around six euros. At the same time, he made clear that he would not pay the additional 80-euro investigation fee.

"It sounded like a predetermined fine. A retailer does not have the right to fine its customers," the father said.

A few days later, the father received another phone call. This time, it was from the police.

"The officer said there was no point arguing about the payment. It had to be paid."

The father was surprised that the police had become involved in what he saw as a dispute between himself and Tokmanni.

"I told the officer that Tokmanni should simply send us an invoice," he said.

The invoice arrived soon afterwards, including processing charges.

Practice "highly questionable"

Criminal law expert Matti Tolvanen, however, told Yle that Tokmanni's practice was "highly questionable" and amounted to something that sounded like a fine.

Tokmanni's revenue from shoplifting-related charges may in fact exceed the estimated 500,000 euros by a significant margin.

Yle is aware of cases in which the retailer charged the 80-euro fee to each underage person involved in a single theft incident, potentially multiplying the amount collected from individual cases.

Shoplifting has been on the rise in Finnish retail outlets. The footage shows a man involved in a shoplifting incident at an Alepa store in Kamppi shopping centre last November. The video is part of police pre-trial investigation material, and Yle has altered the image to protect the individual’s privacy.

Thefts on the rise

The number of shoplifting incidents began to rise during the Covid years and has continued to grow.

A 2023 survey by the Finnish Commerce Federation found that shoplifting costs retailers losses of around half a billion euros. Retailers say they spend a similar amount on preventing theft.

Minor theft cases handled by the fast-track unit of the Helsinki District Court have risen sharply in recent years.

The K and S groups demand a similar payment from shoplifters when a case reaches court.

Yle was unable to obtain information from either retailer on how many shoplifting cases reach the courts each year or how often the 80-euro investigation fee is invoiced to offenders.

Neither K nor S Group has disclosed whether they recover the costs of retail theft from shoplifters while also passing those costs on to consumers through higher product prices.

S Group declined to respond to Yle's request for comment, while K Group's communications department said, "we are unfortunately unable to comment on this matter."