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“It started when I took some records from work and posted them on a small sales site.”
This is what the suspect tells in the interrogation, after the security police raided his house and found stolen equipment and large amounts of cash. An aggravated robbery charge is now being filed in Stockholm District Court.
According to prosecutor Henrik Olin, computers, hard drives, telephones and iPads worth nearly 1.6 million Swedish crowns have been stolen from government offices. The crime should have occurred systematically and lasted between February 2017 and November 2019. The serious thing is that the employee, who has now resigned, is considered to have abused his position of trust.
– In addition, the Government Offices are classified as a protected object and that is why stealing is considered more serious here, says the prosecutor Henrik Olin.
The tangle started to roll in September 2019. A person then discovered that a laptop that was for sale on the Tradera site was marked with the identification number of government offices. The matter was reported to the police and Säpo was involved, this due to the fear that information worthy of protection could remain on the computer.
Säpo’s first step was to identify the seller, who happened to be a businessman in Stockholm. When another ad appeared on Tradera, Säpo decided to try to make a purchase under a false name, which is called a test provocation. This was successful and a policeman, equipped with hidden camera equipment, arranged a meeting with the businessman. Other policemen followed the meeting from a distance and filmed when the businessman handed over the computer in a plastic bag.
But rather than attack the suspect, Henrik Olin agreed that the business could continue in hopes of locating the man’s supplier. The computers that the businessman sent to various clients were removed to control secret mail and recorded, all so that confidential government information would not be at risk of being leaked.
– As far as we know, no data worth protecting has fallen into the wrong hands either, it is important to emphasize it, says Henrik Olin.
A review of the entrepreneur Quick payments eventually led to the alleged thief. Hidden cameras were installed inside government offices and soon the man could be caught on camera when stolen equipment was put on. The man was arrested and decided to remove the blade from his mouth.
– During the interrogations, he partially admitted the crime, however, he really did not want to take a position on how many computers it is, says Henrik Olin.
At work, the man had routinely come in contact with computers and drives that had been reported as defective or needed to be replaced. And so it was in that role that he would have seen his opportunity to earn extra money.
“Unfortunately, the depreciation period is three years and I have asked myself why we throw away working computers,” says the man in questioning. “The plan was that he would sell them.”
However, lawyer Mireille Wildh, who defends the man, announces that the man has now walked away from his previous concessions.
– My client denies the crime and has felt very bad during the long investigation, he says.
The businessman has now also been prosecuted for their involvement in the business. The man denies the accusations of aggravated reception and claims he acted in good faith.
This is not the first time that robberies have been revealed within the Government Offices, which constitute the central administration of the state and have approximately 4,600 employees. A year ago, DN and other media were able to report that seven pistols had disappeared from the premises, weapons that belonged to a security company. These thefts are still unsolved, but according to the prosecutor, Säpo does not see any connection to the now accused employee.
– No, I could tell pretty quickly that it wasn’t connected.
Henrik Olin wants to avoid having opinions about security work within government offices.
– This is an inside job and it is generally difficult to protect yourself against it. But whether security is good or bad I cannot judge.
DN has searched in vain for the head of security for government offices, Fredrik Agemark. Marie Wirmén, human resources manager of the administration department, announces that the Government Offices are taking what happened seriously and have now “tightened the routines” to get rid of obsolete computer equipment.
