Swedish police simultaneously picked up six other suspected members of the fugitive’s gang. The seven arrests were announced on Thursday by the UAE Ministry of Interior. UAE authorities noted that they arrested a Swedish national who had left his country and was the target of an Interpol Red Notice over suspected money laundering. UAE security forces located him after what the ministry described as extended searches and surveillance. He was arrested at the same moment Swedish officers detained six other members of his gang. None of the seven has been publicly named, but legal proceedings have been opened against all of them.

UAE says the suspect had a red notice from Interpol

Over roughly 10 months, the group handled about 70 million Swedish krona, about 26.5 million dirhams and nearly $7.1 million. The network collected cash generated by their crimes, passed it along to other criminal actors, then used cryptocurrencies to move and hide the value of that money. The ministry said in its statement that it traced the group’s transactions and analyzed the digital evidence.

It mentioned that this helped them to discover if the group was connected to other criminal activities like organized crime and contract killings. The caution is not unfounded; Swedish police reported back in May that gangland shootings had killed 23 bystanders and wounded 30 over three years, with gangs recruiting paid killers who are often teenagers below the age of criminal responsibility, through social media and encrypted apps. The country’s justice minister last year told forces to seize more illicit digital assets.

Both the UAE and Swedish governments framed the outcome as a product of direct coordination. Anders Wiberg, police commissioner and head of the international division of the Swedish Police Authority, called cooperation with the UAE “a key factor in achieving the successful outcome of this case.” Brigadier Abdulaziz Al Ahmad, director general of the Federal Criminal Police at the Ministry of Interior, said the UAE “reaffirms its firm commitment to pursuing individuals wanted by justice and combating transnational organized crime.”

He also pledged to keep disrupting criminal financing. The UAE has recently handed over several Interpol-flagged fugitives. The country is also relying harder on virtual-asset tracing tools inside its anti-money-laundering system.

The post UAE and Sweden arrest seven involved in $7M money laundering first appeared on Coinfea.

This means that if officials in Sweden believe that someone has earned digital assets via illegal means or that person cannot explain where the money came from, the police and other arms of the government will be able to acquire it by law.

Lawmakers in Sweden advocate for national Bitcoin reserve

According to Strömmer, the new laws are one of the strictest in Europe. Following reliable sources, the rule prompted the seizure of 80 million Swedish kronor, equivalent to $8.4 million in assets. According to the website of the Swedish parliament, this law also applies to children and young people, as well as those who suffered from a severe mental disorder at the time of the crime.

Based on the Minister of Justice they aim to ensure that the authorities work together more closely and pay special attention to assets that bring big profits. “Now it’s a matter of turning up the pressure further,” Strömmer said. Strömmer’s requests for more active seizures come as some Riksdag lawmakers advocate creating a national Bitcoin reserve. This approach resembles the trend in the US, Czechia, and Italy.

The move was also supported by a leading advocate for Bitcoin reserve in the country, Denis Dioukarev. The member of the Riksdag told reporters that he agrees that law enforcement needs to increase seizure enforcement. He welcomed every effort to seize illegally obtained assets. Dioukarev argued that this would help to fight crime and make life hard for criminals. As for what will or should be done with seized crypto, Dioukarev reiterates his calls for the accumulation of a strategic reserve

Based on his explanation, cryptocurrencies in general and Bitcoin in particular that are confiscated should be transferred to Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, to build a strategic Bitcoin reserve. However, when reporters asked the press office of Minister Strömmer about the fate of the seized assets, they could not provide an answer to the question at the time. This development questions what Strömmer and the Swedish government intend to do to enhance crypto-related asset seizures.

In 2024, 62,000 individuals were linked to criminal activities in Sweden, according to the Bloomsbury Intelligence & Security Institute. Drug dealers and money launderers were among those using the assets, though it is hard to measure exactly how much. In addition, in September, the Police Authority and the Financial Intelligence Unit in Sweden reported that some cryptocurrency exchanges were skilled money launderers. The report recommended that law enforcement gradually increase its monitoring and infiltration of crypto exchange platforms to help detect and disrupt illegal operations.

The post Sweden wants tighter crypto seizures under new forfeiture law first appeared on Coinfea.