A man in Södertälje promised eleven people from India jobs and a fixed salary in Sweden – against a payment of 200,000 kroner. Now the 52-year-old man is sentenced to ten months in prison for several cases of gross fraud. However, he is acquitted of the charge of human trafficking, reports SVT Nyheter Södertälje.
According to the indictment, ten men and one woman from Punjab in northwest India had been recruited by the man and taken to Sweden. The convicted man also comes from Punjab, but has been a Swedish citizen for a long time.
The eleven people were promised full-time employment in Sweden and a fixed salary of around 23,000 kroner – if they first paid the equivalent of 200,000-230,000 kroner, which was claimed to cover fees for work permits and other overheads.
Victims took out loans, wound up businesses, sold land and mortgaged their possessions to pay. When they came to Sweden, however, there were no full-time jobs.