NAVI’s Aleksib Faces Suspended Prison Term Over €53K in CS Sticker Income

Counter-Strike 2 pro Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen is facing a four-month suspended prison sentence in Finland. He is captain of Natus Vincere. According to Dexerto Esports, which cites Finnish outlet Iltalehti’s report on the case, prosecutors accused him of failing to declare roughly €53,000 in Counter-Strike sticker sales on his 2020 tax return.

Prosecutors in Finland have charged Aleksib with aggravated tax fraud. Aggravated tax fraud is the Finnish criminal-code category that applies when the tax evasion crosses a value threshold (here, the roughly €28,000 prosecutors say Aleksib avoided) and is treated more seriously than a basic filing error. They say he avoided approximately €28,000 in taxes by omitting the 2020 sticker revenue. The amount traces to sales tied to Counter-Strike Major stickers, the in-game cosmetic capsules Valve runs each time CS2 holds a major championship. Players and teams that compete at Majors receive a share of the sticker revenue, a perk that has made a single Major run a multi-year windfall for top rosters. CS2 itself is Valve’s free-to-play tactical shooter and the esport that uses the Major sticker revenue model.

The Finnish filing covers Aleksib’s earnings in 2020, when he was playing for OG. By that point he had already appeared at two CS:GO Majors with ENCE, including the IEM Katowice 2019 Major, where the Finnish roster reached the grand final. Sticker revenue from those deep runs is the income prosecutors say was missing from his 2020 return.

Aleksib has acknowledged the income was not declared. According to the court documents Dexerto reviewed through Iltalehti, he maintains he was unaware the sticker earnings were subject to taxation. The legal question is whether that ignorance clears him of intent, the deciding factor in a Finnish aggravated-tax-fraud case. Prosecutors are asking for the sentence to be suspended, meaning he would not serve time in prison if convicted. He would be required to comply with the conditions attached to a suspended sentence. A video on social media shows what appears to be Aleksib in court for the case, though that footage has not been independently verified. A final ruling has yet to be announced. Aleksib has not been convicted of the alleged offense.

Aleksib joined NAVI’s international roster in June 2023, after stints at ENCE and OG. He is still NAVI’s in-game leader on the 2026 CS2 circuit. NAVI is one of three organizations to have completed the Intel Grand Slam. The Intel Grand Slam is a Counter-Strike prize that required winning four consecutive ESL- or DreamHack-staged events within a ten-event window. NAVI completed theirs across IEM Katowice 2020, IEM Cologne 2021, DreamHack Masters Spring 2021, and ESL Pro League Season 14.

A suspended sentence in a tax case is a different category of news from a competitive-integrity ruling. In our recent CS2 coverage, the ESIC lifetime ban on 2xplayN over an alleged match-fixing photo is the closer precedent for what a non-tax esports discipline case looks like. The comparison highlights how wide a gap separates off-server tax proceedings from competitive rulings. For example, a Finnish tax-law reader looking at this case might note that the four-month figure sits at the lower end of what aggravated-tax-fraud sentences can produce, while still representing a notable legal event a top-end org has to plan around. NAVI could still field Aleksib if a Finnish court imposes the four-month suspended term, but the optics of a working captain under active criminal proceedings make trade-window decisions harder. The bigger timing question is whether the case resolves before Valve’s next Major cycle. Finnish tax cases typically wrap within a few months on standard filings, so a final ruling could land before the next significant CS2 event on NAVI’s 2026 schedule. A non-suspended conviction is the only outcome that would force an immediate roster change regardless of how NAVI feels about its IGL. Everything else is roster-decision noise. For readers new to the competitive side of the game, our beginner’s guide to watching esports covers the IGL role and how CS2 squads work in tournament play. The biggest competitive story on the calendar right now is the League of Legends Worlds 2026 play-in stage, which started October 15 in Los Angeles.

Edited by Kerwin Stewart, Editor-in-Chief · How we report