A Swedish court today sentenced a 47-year-old man to three years in prison on charges of espionage in favor of Russia, including the sale of classified information by truck manufacturer Scania, according to Reuters.
The court reportedly found him guilty of receiving and selling classified information from a truck manufacturer to a Russian embassy employee. The court acquitted him on a similar charge of espionage against the carmaker Volvo.
The court said in a statement that “a conviction for espionage requires the fact that Sweden’s security may be affected if the information turns out to be in favor of foreign states.”
Swedish court finds man guilty of spying for Russia at truckmaker Scania https://t.co/UYvHWjy2xb via @Reuters
— Nino Brodin (@Orgetorix) September 15, 2021
The district court ruled that this was the case with the information the man received from Scania, but that it had not been proven with regard to the information from Volvo.
The statement also said that the man regularly received money during meetings with an employee of the Russian embassy, which, according to the court, was compensation for the information provided.
The man was detained during a meeting with a diplomat at a restaurant after he had just received 27,800 Swedish kronor ($ 3,242).
The man, who denies the crime, worked as a consultant at Volvo Cars in 2016 and 2017 and at Scania in 2018 and 2019 before his arrest.
His lawyer said he would appeal the verdict.