Swede Who Crashed Ferrari in Malibu Is Back Behind Bars

• Eriksson Is Arrested in His Native Country on Charges with a Familiar Ring

BY ANNE SOBLE

The Swedish high-rolling electronic gaming company executive and reputed mobster, who became an international media figure when he crashed a $1.5-plus million Ferrari Enzo on Pacific Coast Highway in 2006, was arrested in Stockholm last week on suspicion of grand theft, fraud, assault and other charges.
Stefan Eriksson, now 47, is currently in jail in Uppsala, Sweden, where he formerly served prison time in the 1990s for convictions on racketeering, counterfeiting and other charges related to his alleged role in what locally was dubbed the Uppsala Mafia.
Uppsala Polisen (Police) Station Commander Stefan Hallberg told the Malibu Surfside News by telephone on Friday that Eriksson, a Swedish national, was arrested in Stockholm on Monday, March 30, and brought before a district court judge on Thursday, April 2, for a detention hearing.
Eriksson remains in jail in Uppsala (there is no bond provision in the Swedish judicial system). The judge gave the attorney for the man known as “Ferrari Guy” and the “Ferrari Swede” two weeks to gather defense evidence and slated his return to court for April 16.
Hallberg said the specifics of the charges cannot be publicly detailed, but he noted, “They are substantial...and are viewed as more superior than normal.”
Eriksson’s case is being handled by the Roteln-för-Grova-Brott department, which only addresses crimes of a felony nature.
Hallberg said Eriksson has a Stockholm address, but also uses an address in Germany, which is where he headed when he was deported from the United States after serving time for offenses related to ownership of the crashed Ferrari and other luxury vehicles.
Two other men were arrested in Stockholm this week in connection with the related charges, Hålean Maltsson and Mehmet Kose. Warrants were issued for the trio’s arrest in March. The charges cover the period from December 2008 through March 2009, according to court documents emailed by Chief Inspector Gabriel Ogden of the Uppsala Polisen. There are reports the men had been under surveillance as part of an ongoing investigation, but no further information is being made available at this time.
Eriksson, a cult figure in Sweden, has the mob moniker of “Tjock Steffe” or “Stocky Stevie,” from his days as a reputed key player in Uppsala organized crime. Eriksson was arrested and sent to prison in Uppsala in 1994 following conviction for a list of charges related to mob criminal activity.
After release from prison, Eriksson headed to London, where he lived a lavish lifestyle as a highly paid executive for Gizmondo, an electronic gaming device company that went bankrupt under suspicious circumstances in 2006.
Gizmondo financed Eriksson’s love of fast sports cars, including the red Enzo that was split in half when it crashed on PCH west of Trancas, while traveling at speeds of excess of 162 mph.
Despite his ostensible inebriation at the time of the Ferrari crash, Eriksson was released at the accident scene by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who bought his story that he had connections to U.S. Homeland Security agency operations. Eriksson was subsequently arrested on charges of drunk driving, embezzlement, auto theft, and felony weapons possession.
After lengthy court proceedings and several changes of legal counsel, Eriksson eventually pleaded no contest to DUI charges and similarly plea bargained on multiple charges of embezzlement and gun law violation and was sent to California state prison.
When Eriksson was released from state prison in January 2008, he was immediately deported from the United States for illegal entry into the country from England and faded from the limelight until his arrest last week.