Crime as a Service: Criminal Facilitators Thrive in Sweden’s Shadows
A hidden market has emerged in Sweden, where criminals buy and rent services to further their illegal schemes. This “crime as a service” economy has grown in recent years, with facilitators providing key support to criminal operators.
Key Players: Criminal Facilitators
These facilitators often possess expertise in areas such as:
- Company registration
- Financial transactions
- Money laundering
They may provide Swedish or foreign companies, frontmen, or identities to criminal operators, allowing them to launder funds through legitimate businesses. Some of these facilitators operate under the umbrella of a business, using their knowledge of formal requirements for registering and running companies to hide their illegal activities.
Banks’ Cash Handling Shift Creates New Opportunities
As Swedish banks have reduced their cash handling services, criminal operators have turned to alternative businesses such as:
- Currency exchangers
- Money transferors
These operators often conduct business without a license or registration, exploiting vulnerabilities in the system.
Vulnerabilities in Sweden’s Anti-Money Laundering Regime
Despite Sweden’s anti-money laundering regime being deemed effective by international standards, several vulnerabilities have been identified:
- Inadequate identity verification
- Uneven reporting to the Financial Intelligence Unit and too few actors with reporting obligations
- Government agency operations or practices being exploited by criminals
- Limited exchange of information at the strategic level
- Weak control signals to government agencies regarding anti-money laundering efforts
- Limited resources within the Financial Intelligence Unit
- Limitations of supervisory bodies
Identity Verification Flaws
Government agencies and other actors often rely on incomplete identity checks, assuming that information provided is accurate. This assumption can be exploited by criminals, who may use false documents to facilitate money laundering.
Supervisory authorities and law enforcement agencies rely on registers from the Swedish Companies Registration Office for information, but this office does not verify the quality of the information or alert other agencies to suspicious individuals.
Reporting Shortfalls
The number of reports submitted to Sweden’s Financial Intelligence Unit has increased, but many business operators fail to report suspected money laundering or terrorist financing. This lack of reporting creates a vulnerability that criminals can exploit.
In response, authorities must address these vulnerabilities and strengthen their anti-money laundering regime to combat the growing “crime as a service” economy in Sweden.