The conversations were made from call centers in several other countries and targeted older people in Sweden, 139 of whom are included as plaintiffs in the indictment.
Ten men and four women are now being prosecuted at the Gothenburg District Court, suspected of, among other things, gross fraud and are believed to have obtained over 17 million kronor.
Cars, watches, and gold
"It's about well-organized international crime on a large scale," says Petter Lundgren, prosecutor at the National Unit for International and Organized Crime.
"It has been extremely stressful situations for the elderly who were called. The victims are located all over Sweden."
During the investigation, large assets in cryptocurrency and property such as real estate, cars, watches, gold, and cash have been secured. Two of the defendants are also suspected of aggravated assault against a person who worked with calling older people.
"Anders Jönsson"
On Friday, an indictment was also filed where eleven people are suspected of gross fraud, burglary, and attempted gross fraud against 35 older people in the Stockholm area.
The police discovered the network when they detected a large number of cases with similar methods.
"The fraudsters claimed that incorrect purchases had been made at electronics retailers. The victims were then told to give the code "Anders Jönsson" when contacting the alleged security personnel who came for a home visit," says investigation leader Manuel Ferrer at the police in Region Stockholm.
According to prosecutor Marie Rodhe, the crimes, which are believed to have links to other organized crime, were committed in a nearly corporate-like form.
"The indictment shows that the perpetrators have followed a well-thought-out criminal plan, where great care has been taken to ensure that the business is run efficiently and is difficult to detect," she says in a press release.
