Economic crime report 2004 - Ekobrottsmyndigheten

2.7 INSOLVENCY-RELATED CRIME
Decisions on Compulsory Liquidation
In accordance with the Companies Act, the Swedish Companies Registration
Office can make certain decisions on the compulsory liquidation
of joint stock companies. The most common grounds for such a decision
are that the company fails to submit an annual report and auditor’s
report to the Swedish Companies Registration Office within 11 months
of the close of a fiscal year, lacks a certified public accountant or does not
appoint a proper board. The decision is often a red flag that economic
crime has been committed within the company.
Not having the assets to pay for liquidation proceedings, some companies
quickly declare bankruptcy. The Swedish Companies Registration Office
does not have reliable statistics on the percentage of companies declaring
bankruptcy that were already in liquidation. Rough estimates point to a
figure of 20%.
Table 5
Decisions on liquidation (number)
Year Lacked accounting documents No accountant Unauthorised board
1998 558 417 166
1999 759 383 112
2000 293 436 89
2001 729 629 151
2002 723 465 257
2003 726 448 193
2.8 ORGANIZED CRIME
The Task Force on Organized Crime (AMOB), which was appointed by
RPS in 1976 to propose investigative procedures in the area, came up
with the following oft-used definition.
Organized crime is illegality that generally meets the following conditions:
1. It is conducted as an operation
2. That operation is criminal in itself
3. It is ongoing in nature
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