Sweden’s justice minister called on local authorities to focus on crackdowns that could result in larger seizures of property including cryptocurrency under a 2024 law that allows confiscation of expensive items and cash from individuals even though they are not the target of an investigation.
According to a Thursday report from the Financial News outlet Dagens Industri, Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer Says Local police, tax authorities and the Swedish implementation authority should put more effort into cases that are likely to result in crypto proceeds, real estate and other corporate ownership. The justice minister reported that the government had gained more than $ 8.3 million in criminal income since 2024.
The crackdowns stemmed From a Swedish law that occurred in November 2024, allowing authorities to confiscate expensive items and large amounts of cash from individuals even if they were not the targets of an official investigation. It is unclear how much $ 8.3 million has been reported seized is tied to crypto.
“(This) it is possible to take possessions with criminals of criminals from criminals, whatever proven or it has not been proven that a person has committed a real offense,” Says Governing the body of Sweden in October 2024 after the law passed:
“This means that a person who, for example, has a huge amount of cash, size of bank assets or luxury article can be lost to them if he or she has no income proportional to the owner and cannot explain where it came from.”
Related: Swedish Gov’t pays $ 1.5m on Bitcoin to the Drug Dealer
The law, which the lawmakers said was passed to meet the violent crime in Sweden, had controversy. The economist suggested In December that a woman traveling to the Gothenburg-LandveTter airport had $ 137,000 and a Rolex watch was seized, while authorities reported Confiscated nearly $ 1 million in the goods in the first week of implementation.
The lawmaker called for a Bitcoin reserve
In April, Swedish member of Parliament Rickard Nordin sent a letter To the country’s finance minister asking that he considers the addition of Bitcoin (Btc) as an asset reserve. Nordin suggested that Sweden imitate the US “budget-neutral” approach to a crypto stockpile by non-sale of BTC seized by authorities.
In the United States, President Donald Trump issued an executive order in March to establish a national crypto reserve. The country’s action behind the world’s largest economy can motivate lawmakers to other constituents who call for digital asset stockpiles.
