Published 18 April 2023 at 13.22
Law & Right. The Court of Appeal lowers the sentence significantly in a Skåne bribery case. Welfare entrepreneur Damon Tojjar and bureaucrat Bengt Linde both escape prison despite being convicted of serious bribery offences.
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In the case, Damon Tojjar, doctor and former CEO of the company Vårdinnovation, prosecuted together with two former employees of Region Skåne.
The doctor was charged with gross bribery and instigation of gross infidelity against the principal. The two officials have been charged with gross bribery and gross disloyalty to the principal.
Regarding the bribery offences, the Court of Appeal partly makes the same assessment as the District Court. The doctor is convicted of aggravated bribery in one case and one of the officials, Bengt Linde, of aggravated bribery.
The other official is acquitted as it is not proven that he was offered or accepted any offer that can be counted as a bribe.
The district court sentenced Damon Tojjar to four years in prison, but the Court of Appeal significantly softens the sentence to a suspended sentence for aggravated bribery.
Bengt Linde was sentenced by the district court to three and a half years in prison, but is now getting away with a suspended sentence with daily fines for aggravated bribery.
The Court of Appeal changes the district court's judgment regarding faithlessness against the principal and acquits everyone on those points. The Court of Appeal has come to the conclusion that neither of the two officials has held such financial positions of trust as are required for liability for faithlessness against the principal to be imposed. They have been participants in an expert group regarding Region Skåne and the Västra Götaland region's public procurement. They have not had the right to make binding decisions for the regions, nor have they otherwise had such an independent task as is required for them to be considered to have had a financial position of trust, according to the court.
– As far as the Court of Appeal is aware has it not previously been tested whether a participant in an expert group in a public procurement can be guilty of disloyalty to the principal for having broken the procurement rules, says Court of Appeals Councilor Ingela Sundin in a statement.
Because the officials cannot be convicted for infidelity against the principal, the doctor is also acquitted of the charge of complicity in the crime of infidelity.
Since Damon Tojjar has been in custody for five months, the conditional sentence is not combined with daily fines. He is also banned from business for three years.
Region Skåne and the Västra Götaland region have requested that the defendants pay damages to the regions. However, the Court of Appeal considers that the regions have not proven that the bribery offenses have caused them any financial damage and therefore no damages are awarded.