Swedish criminal networks use Spotify for money laundering, reports Svenska Dagbladet.
According to SvD, criminal gangs use Spotify. Bongkarn Thanyakij / Alamy Stock Photo
Svenska Dagbladet says that Swedish criminal networks use Spotify for money laundering.
According to the magazine, criminal networks have been using the money they received from money laundering, drug dealing, robberies, fraud and contract killings to launder money in Spotify.
They have played the music of so-called fake artists on Spotify. Of course, these “artists” get money from streaming, in other words, laundered money.
– I can say with one hundred percent certainty that this kind of thing is being done. I have been involved in that myself, says an anonymous gang member For Svenska Dagbladet.
Spotify is the world’s most popular music streaming service. PDO
Jengiläinen says that Spotify has been used at least since 2019, when Swedish gangsta rap hit the charts.
The source says that streams were manipulated and when the songs started to rise in the charts, the actual listening numbers also started to rise.
The more listens you get, the more compensation you get from Spotify.
– Spotify has become an ATM for gangs, the source says.
Spotify tells news agency AFP that manipulated streams, i.e. plays, are a challenge for the entire industry.
According to Spotify, less than one percent of all streams have been found to be manipulated. When manipulation is detected, the money is not accounted for.
Spotify, which is a Swedish company, says in a statement that the company has found no evidence that the service is being used in the way SvD describes.