Court Judgment Shows Valve Paid Aleksib’s Sticker Money With No Tax Withheld

Finnish Court Convicts Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen of Aggravated Tax Fraud Over Valve Sticker Payments

A Finnish court sentenced Natus Vincere in-game leader Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen to four months' suspended imprisonment for aggravated tax fraud on Oct. 27, according to MTV Uutiset, which reported the sentence that day. The Esports Advocate reviewed the written judgment, which is in Finnish. Its translations are its own.

According to the judgment, Valve Corporation paid Virolainen €53,227.90 ($59,300) in Counter-Strike sticker money in 2019 in six transfers to his only bank account. None of it appeared on his pre-filled tax return, no advance tax was withheld, and he did not file a corrected form. His 2019 income tax came out €28,196.40 ($31,400) too low. A later correction raised his 2019 income from about €125,200 to about €178,400, so the Valve payments made up around a third of that total.

The payments were for the IEM Katowice and StarLadder Berlin Majors in 2019, Tilt.fi reported. The judgment dates the offence to May 19 through Sept. 22, 2020, the period in which the 2019 return was handled.

Virolainen denied the charge. He testified that he did not know no tax had been withheld from the sticker money or that he had to report it himself. He said he assumed it was income already taxed at source. The court rejected that account. It wrote that, given that the income came from only three sources, "it is not credible that Virolainen would not have noticed that the income was missing from the tax return." It added that he was young but not a minor.

Under Finnish case law, failing to report income requires intent to avoid tax. The court found that intent was present. It sentenced Virolainen to the minimum penalty for aggravated tax fraud, four months, suspended with two years' probation ending Oct. 26, 2028. The court cited his lack of a criminal record and the fact that he has since paid the tax. He must also pay an €80 victims' fund fee. The court rejected his request for the state to cover his €6,431.92 in legal costs.

Virolainen can appeal. According to the judgment's instructions, he must first file a notice of dissatisfaction by Nov. 3. Iltalehti reported that any appeal would go to the Helsinki Court of Appeal.

Valve has said that 50% of Major item revenue is shared as royalties with the tournament organizer, teams and players. Under the current model, half of each team's share goes to the organization and the other half is split equally among its five players.

The case follows other Nordic prosecutions. In 2020, a Swedish court convicted former Fnatic player Robin "flusha" Rönnquist over undeclared 2015 prize money, according to Dexerto. In December 2025, a Danish district court sentenced an unnamed former professional over undeclared foreign income, according to Pley, citing JydskeVestkysten.