A millionaire in Finland got a $60,000 speeding ticket

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Finland speed limit

AP Photo/ Vesa Moilanen, Lehtikuva

Traffic laws in Finland are based on quite a different system from what we have in the US.

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For decades, Finnish traffic fines have been based on a sliding scale metric. Violations are punished according to the severity of the offense and, to the chagrin of many well-heeled Finns, it's based on how much money they make.

No bueno if you happen to be fabulously wealthy (in which case, congrats). Or if you find yourself freewheeling in the driver's seat of a megacar (also congrats). If you get pulled over for leaning on the acclerator, or for some other vehicular transgression, and you're rich, the authorities are going to check your tax returns.

Case in point, this guy: businessman Reima Kuisla. On Tuesday, the BBC reported Kuisla was driving 64mph (103kph) in a 50mph (80kph) zone. A police officer stopped him.

After authorities reportedly checked his 2013 tax returns, they issued him a nearly $60,000 speeding ticket.

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His earnings on those tax returns allegedly indicated Kuisla made about $7.2 million in 2013.

The BBC says Kuisa later griped on his Facebook account that "Finland is impossible to live in for certain kinds of people who have high incomes and wealth."