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CRIME

Sweden jails best-selling thriller writer for tax evasion

The Stockholm appeals court sentenced Håkan Nesser, one of Sweden's best-selling contemporary thriller writers, to 18 months' jail for tax evasion on Friday. His wife received the same sentence.

Published: 14 June 2024 15:17 CEST
Sweden jails best-selling thriller writer for tax evasion
Håkan Nesser, left, with his lawyer Conny Cedermark in May last year. Photo: Anders Wiklund/TT

The court found the couple guilty of not declaring to the tax authorities the transfer of nearly 13 million Swedish kronor ($1.23 million) from companies in Malta between 2013 and 2015.

“We’re in shock and we feel like we’ve been run over by a tank,” Nesser said.

He said he had hired an accountant to manage his financial affairs.

The crime writer was acquitted in the first instance in the spring of 2023.

At the time, the court accepted the author’s argument that the transfers had occurred through ignorance of tax rules.

Nesser has written 48 books that have sold some 20 million copies worldwide.

His first book was published in 1988.

His works, several of which have been adapted for the big screen or for television, have been translated into more than 20 languages.

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CRIME

Illegal Swedish strawberry sales raise billions of kronor for organised crime

Swedish police have carried out raids on strawberry vendors suspected of being linked to gang crime.

Published: 17 June 2024 10:07 CEST
Illegal Swedish strawberry sales raise billions of kronor for organised crime

Police told Dagens Nyheter that the raids were connected to one of Sweden’s most wanted gang leaders, Ismail Abdo, nicknamed Jordgubben (“The Strawberry”).

In a statement police said they had “hit a central violent actor by targeting individuals around this person and their business structures”.

Raids were carried out in Bergslagen, as well as the Mitt and Stockholm police regions.

It’s suspected that these sellers had been marketing Belgian strawberries as Swedish and using the revenue to fund serious organised crime. Police also found children under the legal working age and migrants without legal residency permits working at the stalls.

Police believe that illegal strawberry sales turn over billions of kronor every year.

“We’ve carried out multiple actions together with other authorities,” Per Lundbäck, from the Bergslagen policing region, told Swedish news agency TT. “By cutting off the finances off this type of organised crime, we can weaken gangs’ financing and their ability to carry out crimes.”

To avoid buying strawberries linked to crime, Lundbäck recommends paying attention to the company you buy your strawberries from.

“The first thing you can do is look at the number the (mobile phone payment app) Swish payment goes to, to make sure it’s a company number starting with 123, and not a private number,” he said.

Most companies will have their Swish number displayed somewhere on the stand, so you should be able to check this even if you don’t have the app and are paying with card, for example.

He also added that you can pay attention to the age of the person selling the strawberries, describing very young sellers as a “red flag”.

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