During a search of an apartment in Malmö, the police discovered an abundance of luxury goods. Exclusive designer clothes, shoes, perfumes, jewelery and champagne were found with the woman, who has been suspected of shoplifting.
But both the woman, who is in her 40s, and her adult daughter, who also lived in the apartment, supported themselves on contributions from the Social Insurance Agency. Then the police became suspicious.
– Since the women had such low incomes and lived on support and grants, we considered it unreasonable that they had been able to obtain all these goods in a legal way. We suspected money laundering or money laundering and decided to seize the items and see what the investigation could show, says Anders Mohlin, the police’s financial investigator in Malmö.
300 items seized
A total of around 300 items were seized in the women’s apartment, valued at around SEK 250,000. In addition, the police suspected that the women had pawned jewellery, and after a visit to a nearby pawnshop, further jewellery, worth SEK 55,000, was seized.
The woman and her daughter are now being sentenced for fraud. The daughter is also convicted of forgery because during the course of the investigation she submitted a forged gift deed to the district court for the jewelry that was seized from the pawnshop.
– On the part of society, we must act forcefully against the individuals who get their living paid for with grants and compensations while committing crimes. This sentence is a testament to the police and the Prosecutor’s Office’s joint work towards recovering the proceeds of crime. Committing crimes should not pay off, says prosecutor Henrik Nordquist, who led the preliminary investigation.