The Court of Appeal convicts author Håkan Nesser of three counts of aggravated tax fraud. The sentence is imprisonment for one year and six months.
This is completely incomprehensible, it's ruining our lives, says Håkan Nesser, who will appeal to the Supreme Court.
Håkan Nesser was charged with three counts of aggravated tax fraud and is now convicted on all points. He is convicted of, together with another person, having transferred nearly 15 million kronor from a company in Malta without reporting the dividends to the Tax Agency.
The verdict came as a complete surprise to Nesser.
What has happened is that a tax adviser has made a mistake. I am in complete shock. It's so unfair, you imagine that there is a truth and justice, and then it goes like this. There is no intent, he says to TT.
Nesser's lawyer, Conny Cedermark, calls the verdict "very surprising" and points out that two members of the court wanted to acquit Nesser, and that they will now appeal.
"Håkan Nesser has hired an adviser to try to do the right thing. Intent is about trying to do wrong, and the reasoning that Håkan Nesser would have had reckless intent feels unrealistic. Hiring an adviser is the opposite of being reckless", he writes to TT.
Acquitted in the district court
Nesser is convicted of being responsible for half of the amount transferred from Malta – 7.4 million kronor. A co-defendant is convicted of being responsible for the other half of the money and will serve the same prison sentence as Nesser.
Nesser was acquitted in the district court last year, but the prosecutor appealed the verdict, as well as the acquittal of his financial adviser. The latter is convicted of aiding and abetting aggravated tax fraud and is sentenced to 1 year and 8 months in prison.
Prosecutor Anne-Charlotte Boo thinks the prison sentence against Nesser is reasonable.
It was slightly less than what we had thought, but still acceptable. All the defendants have been involved throughout the process and signed documents showing that they understood that the companies were still active and that there would be returns from there, she says.
Moved back
Nesser was charged in the summer of 2022. This was due to unreported payments and income from a foreign-registered company between 2013 and 2015, in connection with his move back to Sweden and change of tax residence.
He has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has described it as an unintentional mistake by his adviser.
Håkan Nesser debuted as an author in 1988 and has written 48 books that have sold around 20 million copies worldwide.
The tax scheme in Malta was revealed in 2018 in connection with the Paradise Papers, when large amounts of confidential documents were leaked from tax havens around the world.
The investigation led to the Tax Agency investigating the company structure, and in 2019, Nesser and another person were taxed on nearly eight million kronor in back taxes, which they paid.
Nesser was charged in 2022 and acquitted by the district court last year.
