A car dealer in the Stockholm area is being prosecuted for violating international sanctions after his company purchased three cars owned by the Russian embassy in Sweden.

The sanctions prohibit trading with the Russian state without special authorization, which the car company did not have. Karolina Lindekrantz, prosecutor at the National Unit Against International and Organized Crime, explains how the law works in Sveriges Radio.

“If you have not applied for such a permit, you are not entitled to do business with or receive anything from the Russian Federation,” she says.

In a unique case, a representative of a car company is now being prosecuted for violating international sanctions. The company paid 415,000 kronor for the three cars, two Toyota Avensis and one Ford Mondeo.

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The payment was not made directly to the Russian embassy, but to what the Prosecutor’s Office suspects is a front company, which then transferred the money to accounts abroad.

According to the prosecutor, this was an attempt to conceal the car purchase and circumvent the economic sanctions imposed on Russia because of the war in Ukraine.

According to the law, it is possible to apply for an exemption from the sanctions in special cases, but the car company did not do so.

“We have had legislation in Sweden for quite some time that makes it a crime if you do not comply with the existing sanctions,” Lindekrantz told SR.

The indicted car dealer denies any wrongdoing, saying the purchase was a mistake and that he did not know the cars belonged to the embassy.

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