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Cerebral palsy fraudster gets 3 years in jail

TT/The Local
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Cerebral palsy fraudster gets 3 years in jail

A 32-year-old man who was caught playing ping-pong while claiming to be disabled by cerebral palsy has been jailed for three years by a Swedish court.

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The man's deception defrauded the Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) of millions of kronor. He was found out in April after secret police cameras recorded him living an active life, making phone calls and participating in a table tennis tournament, despite claiming to be confined to a wheelchair.

The man was found guilty of aggravated fraud and aggravated subsidy crime by Halmstad district court in southwestern Sweden.

After serving his sentence, the man, an Iraqi citizen, will be deported to his homeland. He must also pay 4.7 million kronor ($640,000) in compensation to the agency, local media reported.

Eight people were involved in the man's deception.

A 54-year-old man, believed to have been the brains behind the fraud, was also sentenced to 21 months in prison for aggravated subsidy crime, accounting fraud and tax evasion.

In addition, the CEO of the personal assistant's company was sentenced to 30 months in prison for aggravated fraud and aggravated subsidy crime. Another five others who were involved may receive suspended sentences for assisting in the aggravated subsidy crime.

The man's lawyer Greger Löfwall told Expressen he assumed his client would appeal.

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