Region Skåne and the Västra Götaland region bought the IT tool Vårdexpressen, but two officials at Region Skåne had contacts with the CEO of the company that won the procurement.

The agreements were worth close to SEK 1 billion.

The three communicated about classified information before, during and after the procurement.

SVT Nyheter Skåne and Uppdrag granskning revealed the tangle which on Friday resulted in prison sentences for those involved.

Malmö District Court believes that the crime is serious because it involves significant values, trust in social institutions and bribes to people in public activities.

However, the district court does not find it proven that patient safety is threatened.

See the judge in the clip explain how the district court reasoned.

The verdict is being appealed

- The district court has taken this as seriously as we have done.

One touches the upper penalty scale.

An enormous amount of tax money has been at stake here, says Thomas Forsberg, chamber prosecutor at the National Unit against Corruption.

But the verdict will be appealed, the defense lawyers announce.

Damon Tojjar's lawyer, Staffan Bergqvist, writes in a comment to SVT Nyheter Skåne:

"We have briefly read the verdict.

We had neither believed nor expected this outcome.

We are surprised and the verdict will be appealed. "

Attorney Conny Cedermark, representing one of the convicted officials, calls the verdict surprising.

"Neither my client's position nor his actions have justified a conviction.

We will take the matter to the Court of Appeal. "

The other official has not decided whether to appeal.

His lawyer Monique Carden believes that the verdict is well written but that she and her client do not share certain conclusions in the verdict.

She writes that her client did not intend to harm Region Skåne or the Västra Götaland region.

"No winners"

Region Skåne's CFO Lars-Erik Rudin says in a written comment that "there are no winners in this story" and adds:

"This is about individuals who have broken rules and we can never protect ourselves against such.

We must never for a moment forget that we as civil servants in Region Skåne are set to safeguard the interests of the inhabitants and protect our tax money. ”