COPENHAGEN (HPD) — A Danish court on Tuesday convicted a 29-year-old Syrian man of money laundering and sentenced him to three years in prison for smuggling 74 million kronor (almost $10 million) to neighboring Sweden.
The man, identified only as a resident of Sweden, acted as a mule by repeatedly crossing the Øresund bridge-tunnel, which connects Copenhagen with Malmo, Sweden’s third largest city. On each trip he carried around 2 million kronor ($261,000) hidden in his vehicle.
Between January and June, the man, who confessed to the crime, collected the money in Copenhagen and went to Sweden in a car with Swedish registration. It was discovered by the Special Crimes Unit, but the origin of the money could not be ascertained.
At the time of the arrest, the man had 2.9 million crowns ($379,000) on him. It was not reported when he was arrested.
“This is a serious form of socially destructive crime, it is extremely important to stop and suppress it,” prosecutor Halit Sert said. He added that the sentence was “satisfactory.”
There are three other suspects in the money laundering network, the prosecution said.