Swedish Fraudster Faces Prison Sentence

The Swedish man, Carl-Fredrik Lundgren, 41, who was this week arrested in Thailand is now back in Sweden where he is facing a one or two year prison term for fraud which he and four other people committed together in Sweden eight years ago.
Mr. Lundgren – known as Silver among friends on Koh Pangan – has a five year old son, whom he raised alone. He is now being taken care of by Mr. Lundgren’s parents thanks to one of Silver’s friends from Koh Pangan who went up to Bangkok with him the day the arrest took place and ensured that he could travel with his Dad to Sweden.

The crime
The crime that Carl-frederik Lundgren and his four accomplices committed eight years ago in Sweden was, according to Radio Sweden in Jonkoping, to pretend that they represented a company and ordered various products in the name of this company. But any payment was never made, and the goods were sold onwards quickly, according to the news report.
In total, the men are estimated to have pocket nearly 2.4 million for the scam. When Mr. Lundgren was about to be arrested, he fled to Thailand.
When the news was released in Thailand earlier this week, Thai police said he was wanted for tax fraud case. ScandAsia’s initial report quoted a Thai police colonel describing the case as “serious economic crimes involving more than 100 cases of fraud valued at over 400 milllion baht.”

Different procedure
According to sources in Thailand, the charges against Mr. Lundgren were about to expire in Sweden and to ensure justice was served, the Swedish police revoked Mr Lundgren’s passport and asked the Thai immigration police to help have him expelled based on this. Silver worked in the construction business on Koh Pangan and had all the proper visa and work permit he needed to stay in Thailand.
But according to Tommy Kangasvieri of the Central Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Sweden, this was not how it was done.
“We traced him there and then issued an internatrional warrant for his arrest. When the Thai police napped him they contacted us,” Tommy Kangasvieri told Swedish Radio Jonkoping.
What ever the procedure, Mr. Lundgren was presented in the court in Jonkoping yesterday. Here, Carl-frederik Lundgren requested to be released while waiting for the trial to begin, but the judged decided against this and allowed the police to keep him in custody until the case is finished.

About Gregers Møller

Editor-in-Chief • ScandAsia Publishing Co., Ltd. • Bangkok, Thailand

View all posts by Gregers Møller

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *