Olof K Gustafsson in an interview with Expressen 2021.
Photo: OLLE SPORRONG
Olof Gustafsson is in Spanish custody and risks extradition to the United States.
Photo: OLLE SPORRONG
After spending almost two months in Spanish custody, Olof Gustafsson is now being interviewed by Svenska Dagbladet. The Swedish criminal suspect has tried to reach Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer for help.
– I have not received an answer from the minister. The embassy asked if I was cold and needed an extra blanket in prison, that’s all, he tells SvD.
It was early in the morning on December 4 that Spanish police, together with federal agents from the US Internal Revenue Service, raided Olof Gustafsson’s residence in Malaga.
After being in the house for six hours, the police allegedly seized, among other things, watches, jewellery, computers and telephones.
The charges against Olof Gustafsson include smuggling, money laundering, fraud and having been part of a criminal organization that conducts illegal art trade.
“Sending me like a piece of meat to the USA”
According to Svenska Dagbladet, Olof Gustafsson may also be extradited to the United States as the American Tax Agency accuses the Escobar CEO of defrauding hundreds of people on mobile phones. He himself denies and says that it is “not illegal to do bad business”.
– I hope Sweden will take me home and give me a humane legal process, not send me like a piece of meat to the USA, he now tells the newspaper.
– The US is looking for me and has requested my arrest via Interpol. They suspect me of 35 counts of international money laundering and 41 counts of money laundering. The extraordinary thing is that the potential sentence is 2050 years in prison.
According to documents that the newspaper has seen, the criminal suspicion has been confirmed – but not the potential length of the sentence.
Friend of Escobar’s brother
Olof Gustafsson has become famous for managing the late drug lord Pablo Escobar’s name in the company Escobar Inc. He is also a friend and business partner of Pablo Escobar’s brother Roberto Escobar.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry has confirmed to Expressen that “a man in his 30s was detained in Spain at the beginning of December”.
“The man is represented by a lawyer. The embassy in Madrid is working on the case. We are not going into further details citing consular confidentiality,” writes OUT.
READ MORE: Escobar CEO Olof Gustafsson detained in Spain
