Three drug traffickers convicted in 2019, will receive from the Swedish state a value of 1.3 million euros, which will be returned to them as a result of a mistake made by prosecutors, who prosecuted their crime in the Swedish Krona in instead of the crypto-currency Bitcoin.
Prosecutor Tove Kullberg successfully indicted the three criminals in April 2019, prompting Swedish police to confiscate 36 Bitcoin, which they had obtained through the sale of illegal drugs online.
However, in their indictment, Kullberg converted the value of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin into Swedish kronor, which meant that the government already had the right to seize about 1.3 million kroner (127,000 euros) - based on the value of Bitcoin in those times.
However, what was not predicted was that the value of 36 Bitcoins, went from 130,000 euros to about 1.5 million euros in 2021, reports euronews.
The debt that the three traffickers owe to the state, ie € 130,000 euros, is paid with only 3 Bitcoin, with the value that this currency has today, and the remaining 33 Bitcoins, belong again to the traffickers.
"It is a very unfortunate case," said the Swedish authorities. "This was the first case that this prosecution had faced at that time and the consequences were unforeseen.
"The lesson we have learned from this case is to always maintain value in Bitcoin proceedings, regardless of the value of this currency at the time of the crime."
The Swedish authorities also demanded more training for criminal prosecutors, adding that at the time the case was being processed, information was almost non-existent.