A local Green Party politician and lay judge in West Sweden has been convicted of money laundering after receiving and transferring money from people deceived in online frauds. The woman claims she thought she was helping a rock star with a charity fundraiser for Hamas-controlled Gaza.

The former Green Party politician Lena Linke, who was active in Sotenäs municipality and also served as a lay judge until the crimes were discovered, has now been convicted by the Uddevalla District Court for three counts of money laundering.

According to the verdict, she received money originating from fraud and forwarded it, including through purchases connected to cryptocurrency, thereby helping to conceal the origins of the funds.

Linke has denied the charges throughout the legal process, claiming that she herself was deceived. In police interviews, she said she believed the money she transferred was intended for Hamas-controlled Gaza.

READ MORE: West Swedish Green Party Politician Prosecuted – Laundered Money for Gaza

She has also stated that she was in online contact for several years with someone she believed was Queen guitarist Brian May. According to her, he was also involved in fundraising for the terror-run Gaza Strip.

– I’m more radical than he is. Even if I’m not super radical, I’m politically active. I’m a Green Party member, Linke said in her police interview regarding her alleged correspondence with the person pretending to be May.

Money from Romance Scams

The background to the case involves several scams where people in Sweden were tricked into sending money. One example is a man in his eighties in Uppsala who thought he was in contact with a Norwegian doctor in Yemen and sent about 30,000 SEK. The money ended up in Lena Linke’s account.

– As part of investigating the underlying frauds, we look into where the money from those who have been defrauded has gone. We trace the funds. And then they show up in this woman’s account, chief prosecutor Martin Tidén previously told Samnytt.

Several other victims were also affected. Among them, a woman was scammed out of over 800,000 SEK after believing she was in contact with Nickelback lead singer Chad Kroeger. Some of that money passed through Linke’s account.

Transferred Money and Bought Cryptocurrency

According to the investigation, Lena Linke received several deposits from various victims during the summer and fall of 2024. The money was then transferred between her own accounts and was partly used for purchases via services linked to cryptocurrency.

She admitted that she did not know who the people depositing the money were, but assumed they were donations. She claimed she did not have any obligation to verify this.

District Court: Should Have Recognized the Risk

The district court concludes that her actions constituted money laundering as she managed money derived from crimes and contributed to concealing its origin.

READ ALSO: Municipal Employee in Love with Fake Mick Jagger – Transferred SEK 18 Million from Municipality to Scammers in Ghana and Turkey

At the same time, the court found that it was not proven she had intent to commit a crime. However, she was judged to have had “reasonable grounds” to suspect something was wrong, partly because the circumstances – contact with a major music star without video communication and fundraising via cryptocurrency – seemed improbable.

Conditional Sentence and Damages

The penalty is a conditional sentence combined with 30 daily fines, totaling 9,000 SEK. She must also pay damages to the three affected individuals, corresponding to the amounts that passed through her account. During the investigation, Lena Linke expressed concern over the financial consequences of the verdict.

– Now some bastard will probably force me to sell the house and then I won’t be able to afford to live anywhere. Then I’ll be homeless and the whole municipality will have a great time.