Nokia executive hit by huge fine

HELSINKI, Finland -- Nokia executive Anssa Vanjoki has been hit with a $103,000 fine for speeding - the biggest in Finnish legal history.

Vanjoki, vice president of the company's mobile phone division, was caught on his motorbike doing 46mph in a 30mph limit on an island near Helsinki in October 2001.

But because Finnish fines are tied to income Vanjoki, who reportedly made $12.4 million in 1999 -- the year which the court took into account when considering earnings -- was hit with the massive fine.

He has appealed for the fine to be based on his gross income in 2000, when he earned $970,000, Reuters reported, quoting tax authority figures.

Chief police inspector Olli Yliskoski said Finnish authorities are considering changing he way incomes are used in determining the fines.

"They should be proportioned to the danger afflicted," he said. "If you fine somebody on the grounds of incomes peaking a certain year it can grow unreasonable."

In a similar incident last year, a Helsinki court slashed a traffic fine levied against Internet millionaire Jaakko Rytsola for switching lanes too often.

It was cut from $45,000 to $119 after his income showed a dramatic drop. Earlier, Rytsola had paid a $74,600 traffic fine.