Crime figure sues police over sex club entrapment

A 48-year-old man identified as a leading figure in Stockholm's criminal underworld is suing an ex-policeman for 50 million kronor ($7 million), claiming he was set up as part of a major sex club scandal that led to ten criminal convictions in 2008.

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The man, sentenced to two years and three months in jail for his own role in the affair, claims in his summons application that he was the victim of illegal entrapment by the former officer and his police colleagues. Apart from financial compensation, the 48-year-old is also calling for the ex-policeman to be given a six year prison sentence.

A prosecutor The Local spoke to believes the 48-year-old may have a case with some of his claims.

“It was a bit of a scandal when it happened. The policeman had difficulties separating the two worlds and lost his job as a result," said Nils Eric Schultz.

According to the 48-year-old, he agreed to collaborate with the state in the fight against organized crime in Sweden and Europe after the police officer approached him for the first time in 2001.

“Since we were working so closely with the government he suggested fake identities for me and my family, in order not to put our lives at risk.”

The man also describes how the officer took an interest in his family.

“He spent a lot of time with my son. At one point when he had been beaten up at school the policeman helped him to solve the problem.”

The 48-year-old also accuses the officer and his colleagues of putting pressure on his ex-wife to file domestic abuse charges. Though later cleared of the charges in the court of appeal, he said the case had torn his family apart.

At one point in their working relationship, the officer told the collaborator that the police needed to buy a sex club in order to get closer to traffickers. Using his connections in the industry, the 48-year-old helped the policeman to acquire a club.

Once the club was up and running, the police officer regularly contacted him for help in his dealings with the criminal underworld in return for a fee. The collaborator agreed to assist the officer in return for a fee, he writes.

As time went on, the officer became ever more embroiled in the chaotic finances of the club, with workers paid off the books and money disappearing into foreign accounts.

"All the time he was trying to drag me into the irregularities he was involved in with his own bookkeepers and accountants."

Both men were later indicted and convicted when a number of sex clubs in Stockholm were found to be involved in a major money laundering operation.

“Only now have I realised that the police were really after me and were involved with entrapment for years, using me both mentally and financially, setting traps to get at my legal business, perpetrating crimes in businesses bought and owned by them, and convicting me of crimes committed by the police (the state)," he writes.

Despite his misgivings about the police officer's role, Nils-Erik Schultz believes that the case is unlikely to go any further:

“It’s very hard for just one person to press charges in a case like this. I don't think he stands a chance to get what he is asking for,” said Schultz, who is not personally involved with the case.

The prosecutor added that it was vital for the police to know where to draw the line when working undercover.

“The guiding principle is that the police should always prevent crimes, not create opportunities for new ones.”