Daniel Kindberg was charged with "requesting improper benefits and then receiving them" from a supplier during the years 2014 to 2018, when he was CEO of the municipally owned housing company Östersundshem.
This is said to have happened when Kindberg sent 31 invoices from his own companies regarding consulting services to the supplier, who paid a total of SEK 5,545,000 to Kindberg's company.
The Court of Appeal writes that in these parts it makes largely the same assessment as the district court, which sentenced Kindberg in June 2022.
We are of course disappointed by the verdict in principle, says Kindberg's lawyer Olle Kullinger to TT.
We need to sit down and analyze the verdict. The feeling is that central questions from the hearing are left unanswered.
The sentence is mitigated by the Court of Appeal, to one year and eight months in prison, as it rejects the parts of the indictment relating to aiding and abetting a serious accounting crime and aiding and abetting the obstruction of tax control, a serious crime. On these counts, Kindberg is acquitted by the Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal also takes into account "the long time that has passed since the crimes were committed and that all defendants have lost their jobs or been banned from business."
Earlier this fall, Svenska Dagbladet published a long report about Daniel Kindberg. The 58-year-old, who has worked in the Swedish Armed Forces for many years and holds the rank of lieutenant colonel, was in Ukraine at the time, where he was serving in the country's army.
The man who was charged in the same case with giving a bribe, a felony, as well as serious cases of accounting fraud and hindering tax control, is also sentenced. In that case too, the sentence is reduced to two and a half years in prison.
Fredrik Montalvo/TT
Carl Goransson/TT
Facts: Kindberg and Östersunds FK
TT
Daniel Kindberg became chairman of Östersunds FK in 2010. Under the leadership of Graham Potter, who is now the new Swedish national team captain, ÖFK was promoted to the Allsvenskan football league in 2015.
In 2017, ÖFK won the Swedish Cup. This gave them a place in the Europa League, where the club was successful and advanced to the group stage. However, in the playoffs, Arsenal were overwhelming.
In April 2018, Daniel Kindberg was arrested on suspicion of financial crime. Shortly thereafter, Kindberg resigned from his job as CEO of Östersundshem. He also took time out from his position as chairman of ÖFK.
In December 2018, charges were brought against Kindberg and two other men. The charges included gross breach of trust against a principal and gross accounting fraud.
In September, the trial against the former chairman of ÖFK and the other two men began in Ångermanland District Court.
At the same time, things were getting worse for ÖFK in the Allsvenskan. The club was bleeding financially and working to avoid bankruptcy.
In November 2019, Ångermanland District Court sentenced Daniel Kindberg to three years in prison and a business ban, as well as to jointly and severally pay SEK 13 million in damages to the companies affected by the crime.
In 2021, ÖFK left the Allsvenskan and has been playing in the Superettan since then.
In December 2021, the Court of Appeal for Lower Norrland acquitted Daniel Kindberg and the two co-defendants on all counts.
A new trial began against Daniel Kindberg and four other men for bribery in the spring of 2022. Kindberg was charged with aggravated bribery, aiding and abetting serious accounting offences, or aiding and abetting tax inspection (serious offences).
In June 2022, Östersund District Court sentenced Daniel Kindberg to two years and six months in prison for aggravated bribery, aiding and abetting serious accounting fraud, and aiding and abetting tax audit, a felony. Kindberg was also sentenced to pay almost 5.5 million kronor to the state as forfeited proceeds of crime.
