Seiska is reporting that former Stratovarius guitarist, Timo Tolkki, has been sentenced to a 45-day suspended prison sentence at the Helsinki district court for fraud and forgery.

According to the report (translated), the fraud conviction came from when Tolkki applied for subsistence allowance for himself in 2020 for more than 3,000 euros. Tolkki hid from Kela (the Social Insurance Institution Of Finland), among other things, his income and the funds in his bank account.

Forgery, on the other hand, was condemned when Tolkki falsified his account statements for Kela. Among other things, the guitarist deleted transactions from his account statement and edited balances to hide his real income.

Tolkki was ordered to reimburse Kela for 3,063 euros in income support. In addition, the guitarist has to pay the state a crime victim fee of 80 euros.

Tolkki failed to appear at the trial. In his petition submitted to the district court, he argued that he was living in a "bad time" when the crimes took place. Tolkki has said that he suffers from bipolar disorder.

Reached by Seiska, Tolkki did not want to comment on the subject. The judgment is not yet final.

Last month, ROAR! Rock Of Angels Records announced the signing of a multi-album deal with Timo Tolkki’s Strato and welcome the band to the roster.

They started it all 39 years ago...

Tuomo Lassila formed Stratovarius in Helsinki 1984, and is responsible together with the original guitar player Staffan Stråhlman for the band's name Stratovarius. One year later Timo Tolkki joined the band. Stratovarius released their debut album Fright Night (1989) through CBS Finland. From that started one of the biggest success stories in the history of metal. They defined what is currently known as "power metal" with albums like Fright Night (1989), Twilight Time (1993), Dreamspace (1994) and Fourth Dimension (1995).

Timo Tolkki wrote more than 100 songs for the band before leaving the group to embark on a successful solo career back in 2008, and is responsible for writing such anthems like “Black Diamond”, “Hunting High And Low”, “Speed Of Light”, “Paradise”, “Forever” and “Destiny”. More than 4 million copies of Tolkki-era Stratovarius albums have been sold.

In the summer 2022 Timo Tolkki, Tuomo Lassila and Antti Ikonen met to discuss ideas to reform the original lineup. In all secrecy, they have rehearsed in Tuomo’s garage (real back to the roots!) since January 2023, deciding to call themselves Timo Tolkki’s Strato.

Timo Tolkki’s Strato lineup:

Timo Tolkki - Guitar/Vocals
Tuomo Lassila - Drums/Percussion/Vocals
Antti Ikonen - Keyboards
John Vihervä - Bass