The author Håkan Nesser was sentenced by the Svea Court of Appeal to 1.5 years in prison for three cases of aggravated tax fraud.
He is now appealing to the Supreme Court.
The author is appealing together with another person who was convicted in the case, and is requesting that the Supreme Court take up the case and acquit them.
They were convicted in the Court of Appeal for having jointly taken out nearly 15 million kronor from companies in Malta without reporting the dividends to the Tax Agency. They admit to having provided incorrect information to the Tax Agency, but claim that it was not done intentionally and that they therefore should not be convicted of tax fraud.
Nesser has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has described it as an unintentional mistake made by his advisor. However, the Court of Appeal considered that he should have realized that there was a significant risk that the information was incorrect and that he was indifferent to it. He was therefore considered to have had reckless intent.
The question of reckless intent is also what Nesser's lawyer Conny Cedermark is focusing on in his appeal. Cedermark writes that the Supreme Court should take up the case to clarify how it should be assessed in cases similar to Håkan Nesser's.
"The need for a guiding judgment from the Supreme Court is great", he writes.
Håkan Nesser, 74, debuted as an author in 1988 and has written 48 books that have been sold in around 20 million copies worldwide.
