SWEDE Jonas Falk has won his last pending case in Spain’s legal system after the Supreme Court annulled a two-and-a-half year prison term for money laundering via his illicit companies.
Falk, 52, has been dubbed as the Swedish ‘Pablo Escobar’- the infamous Columbian drug lord- but has never been convicted of drug trafficking.
He is currently serving 22 months behind bars in his native country after being convicted of blackmail in June and is appealing the verdict and sentence.
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His final legal farewell in Spain saw the Supreme Court state money laundering cash could not be proven as coming from drug trafficking.
The initial Barcelona court ruling was overturned along with seven other defendants- also in regard to money laundering.
Jonas Falk is regarded as Sweden’s most infamous criminal, starting off as a bank robber to alleged drug trafficking.
Authorities accused him of importing vast quantities of cocaine in the first decade of the century via luxury sailboats that crossed unnoticed across the Atlantic Ocean.
Sweden prosecuted him for four caches of nearly 1.4 tonnes of cocaine found in international waters in the Caribbean.
He was initially sentenced to 18 years in prison, but appealed and was acquitted in 2014 because, despite the evidence, the judges found a ‘reasonable doubt’.
He also faced charges in Spain for laundering drug money including investing €5.5 million in luxury homes, nightclubs and restaurants in Catalunya and the Balearic Islands.
He even got a trial annulment over the way it was handled in 2015 as judges agreed that the way he gave evidence via a link from Sweden violated his fundamental rights.
Prosecutors would not let go and eventually, he was convicted in 2021 by a Barcelona court on the charge that has now been overturned by the Supreme Court.
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So where did the money come from?