Convicted Vastaamo Hacker Released Pending Appeal
Aleksanteri Kivimäki, convicted of over 20,000 counts of attempted extortion against clients of the Vastaamo therapists, has been released from custody pending appeal. The convicted hacker, who has been in custody since 2023, was released due to his long pretrial detention.
Kivimäki's release does not overturn his previous conviction and sentence of six years and three months. The Helsinki Court of Appeal, which is expected to issue a ruling later this year, has not yet made a final decision on his appeal. The hacker is presumed innocent until the appeal process is complete.
The hack of Vastaamo took place in 2018 and was made public in 2020 when Kivimäki allegedly began extorting patients. More than 24,000 people reported receiving extortion attempts from Kivimäki, making it a record number of victims in a Finnish criminal trial. The stolen documents were uploaded to the dark web, but also contained a copy of the perpetrator's home folder with clues leading to Kivimäki.
Despite his release, Kivimäki's conviction and sentence remain in place. His trial is ongoing, and the final ruling from the Helsinki Court of Appeal is awaited. The release is a procedural matter related to his long pretrial detention, and it does not reflect a change in his legal status.
