Man charged in Sweden for selling illegal information on Volvo and Scania

According to the Swedish Prosecution Authority, an unidentified man has been charged with obtaining and selling information on vehicle manufacturers Volvo and Scania to a Russian diplomat.

State prosecutor, Mats Ljungqvist, said in a statement that the unidentified 47-year-old man had worked at both Volvo and Scania as a consultant, where he illegally obtained and sold information, resulting in a breach of Sweden’s security.

Ljungqvist explains, “While a consultant at his former workplaces, I allege that he obtained material with the purpose of providing information to a foreign power, in this case, Russia…The man was apprehended while meeting a Russian diplomat where he had just received 27,800 Swedish crowns ($3,360) from the diplomat.”

The Swedish authority said that the information was transferred from computers to USB sticks and via photographs taken of his work computer. It was added that if found guilty of the crime, it holds a sentence of up to six years in prison.