Sharpened tools against insider crime – more people are prosecuted

New tools against criminals who steal millions by cheating the stock market have led to more prosecutions.

The Ecocrime Authority believes in an unusually high number of cases this year, reports Dagens Nyheter.

At least eight prosecutions for insider trading will be brought this year, according to the authority. The last time such figures were reached was in 2017.

– It is much more difficult to get away today, says Ted Murelius, deputy chief prosecutor at the Ecocrime Authority’s Financial Markets Chamber, to the newspaper.

The explanation behind the development is partly that the attitude towards economic crime has changed – more people take a harder look at the crimes – and partly that the justice system has got better tools to get at the criminals.

– This is a question of trust in the securities market, where, among other things, our pensions are located. Every single Swede would be affected if trust in it were to break.

One of the new tools is that prosecutors, with permission from the court, have the right to monitor suspects’ phones if the crime is considered serious.

A majority of prosecutions result in a conviction. According to DN’s review, six out of ten suspects have been convicted in the district court in the last ten years.

At the same time, there are few cases that lead to prison sentences, even though prison is included in the punishment scale for the normal degree of insider crime. Even in the case of serious crimes, the standard punishment is a suspended sentence and community service.