Antti Kaikkonen, a Finnish Centre party MP and former chair of the Youth Foundation, received about 42,000 euros from the foundation in 2008, national daily Helsingin Sanomat quoted figures from the Housing Finance and Development Centre (Ara) as indicating.

The sum is more than double that claimed by Mr Kaikkonen himself.

Mr Kaikkonen resigned as chair of the foundation last year after it emerged that the housing charity had funded a number of Centre party politicians' election campaigns, including those of Matti Vanhanen, the prime minister and a former chair of the foundation.

STT