On Monday, the trial began against a 31-year-old man who is suspected of cheating 96 people on nearly SEK 90 million in investment fraud.

Of the victims, some 20 are from Skåne.

Brothers pair took out loans of 2 million

It was at the beginning of 2016 that two Scanian brothers, aged 25, were contacted by the 31-year-old suspected fraudster. One of them was promised a profit of SEK 200,000 plus the money back if he lent SEK 1.5 million to the impostor's company.

The other would get a profit of SEK 85,000 if he paid SEK 440,000.

To get the investment advice, the brothers borrowed from a dozen different credit banks.

According to the promise, the money and profits would be repaid within a few months.

"He said that the more I invested, the more I would receive bonuses," said one of the brothers in police questioning.

The scheme was that the impostor would get a bonus on purchased electronics, and that the bonus would remain even if a repurchase of the goods was made. They would then share the bonus.

Sold the house for advice

But the money never came back. For several months, the brothers rioted with the impostor, with no results.

- He sometimes said that he did not get, his swish was full, that he worked late, had gone on vacation in Spain and a job trip in Luxembourg, says one brother in interrogation.

The fraudulent scam was tricked into taking credit loans of almost half a million SEK, but when the profit was paid out, the suspected fraudster came with evasions. Photo: Police investigation

The fraud has had financial consequences for those affected. One brother managed to redeem all loans the following year.

- I sold my house and my car to do this, he says.

The other one who took a significantly larger loan risked ending up at Kronofogden and got the car exhausted.

Should become business partners in real estate purchases

Another Scanian man at the age of 40 was tricked into thinking that he and the impostor would become business partners. He took out a loan of almost SEK 1.4 million. The money would make the 31-year-old invest in real estate abroad, in an electronics store and on car imports. The gain of SEK 230,000 would return the scandal within a few months.

But even in this case, the repayment was delayed and no profits were ever paid.

And the chances of everyone getting their money back are small. Despite seizures such as luxury cars, expensive watches and villas, the prosecutor expects that the plaintiffs will not get back all the money they lent to the suspected big fraud. In total, seizures worth approximately SEK 45 million have been made.
"My guess is that they may get back less than half of what they have lent out," said Kjell Jannesson, prosecutor for SVT.

The accused 31-year-old has consistently denied the suspicions. Today the trial started in Karlskrona.