Peyman Kia, who is serving a life sentence for aggravated espionage, must pay tax on the compensation he received for passing on information to a foreign power. This has been decided by the Administrative Court of Appeal in Stockholm in a new ruling.

– The Income Tax Act is based on the principle that all income should be taxed. There is no exception for criminal activities. Therefore, the compensation that a person convicted of aggravated espionage has received from a foreign power should be taxed in the same way as income from legal activities, says Administrative Court of Appeal Judge Annika Lowén in a press release from the Administrative Court of Appeal in Stockholm.

Peyman Kia was sentenced in May 2023 to life imprisonment by the Svea Court of Appeal for spying for the Russian intelligence service GRU. According to the verdict, between 2011 and 2017, he acquired and transmitted information while employed by the Swedish Armed Forces and the Security Service. The preliminary investigation was led by the Security Service and was initiated after suspicions arose that someone within the Swedish intelligence system had offered information to a foreign power.