Advertisement

Wheelchair fraudster goes on the run

TT/The Local/pvs
TT/The Local/pvs - [email protected]
Wheelchair fraudster goes on the run
Screenshot: SVT

A 47-year-old who went on holiday in Egypt while posing as handicapped in Sweden and claiming millions in benefits is being sought by Interpol after failing to show up to serve his four year prison sentence.

Advertisement

The man was convicted of fraud in December 2011 after scamming the Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) of 13.5 million kronor ($2 million). He was sentenced to four years imprisonment and when he was due to begin serving his sentence in 2013 he never showed up.
 
Swedish police believe that the man has fled the country and an international arrest warrant has been issued for the man. He is also registered as wanted in Schengen Register.
 
Following a car accident in 2001 the man claimed, supported by a doctor's note, to be in such bad condition that he couldn't even dress himself, but his fraud came to an end when suspicions were raised after police managed to film the man while gardening by his summer house on Gotland.
 
Further snaps emerged of the man posing on holiday in front of the Egyptian pyramids.
 
For six years his two brothers and his girlfriend, who he claimed to be his around-the-clock personal care assistants, were funded by the agency and Linköping municipality. The trio were also sentenced to between one and two years in prison.
 
Several other cases of benefits crime have since been revealed and the Social Insurance Agency has expanded its task force to investigate fraud including a closer cooperation with police and prosecutors.

 

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also