The police officer made the discovery on his way from work at the police station in Gothenburg, writes Dagens Juridik.
On the sidewalk lay a stocking stuffed with banknotes – specifically 60 500-kronor banknotes, totaling 30,000 kronor. Since the lost property department was closed, he took the banknotes home and put them in an envelope that he hid away. Later, he tried to buy gasoline with two of the banknotes, but the cash register system refused to accept them.
According to the investigation, it was a matter of skilled forgeries. The police state that he never reflected on the possibility that the banknotes might be fake or come from criminal activity. The district court assumed that the man believed the banknotes to be genuine and therefore convicted him of gross misconduct but acquitted him of fraud and illegal possession of counterfeit money.
The Court of Appeal disagrees and calls it "unrealistic" that the man, an experienced police officer, did not investigate the authenticity of the banknotes. The court points to the general circumstances and that the banknotes in many cases had the same serial number.
The police officer is now convicted on all counts. Since he is likely to lose his job, the sentence is limited to a conditional sentence and day fines.
