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A Walk Through Uppsala(TOWN of SWEDEN)

A Walk Through Uppsala(TOWN of SWEDEN)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSki8gismdw

How Nordic Mafia Embezzled $382 Million While Creating Next Gaming Device(October2006記事）

Gizmondo - How Nordic Mafia Embezzled $382 Million While Creating
The Next Cool Gaming Device -(October2006記事）
http://mrwavetheory.blogspot.com/2006/10/gizmondo-how-nordic-mafia-embezzled.html

posted by MR WAVETHEORY at 10/04/2006 11:17:00 PM

Wired writes a great investigative report about Gizmondo - the cool gaming device with MP3 and video player, gyroscopes for motion sensing, multimedia messaging, and Bluetooth wireless networking for multiplayer games - that never was. It was supposed to overtake the Sony PSP and the Nintendo DS. Wired traces the company from how it was founded by Nordic Mafia leader, Carl Freer, and his cohort Bo Stefan Ericksson, who transformed a flooring company into Tiger Telematics, and how it all spectacularly unfolded.

For his efforts as managing director, Freer was awarded a compensation package that totaled nearly $2.2 million in 2004, his first full year on the job. He and his wife (who was paid $174,000 by Gizmondo for "consultancy services") moved with their children onto a huge estate in Hampshire and filled the garage with expensive autos. On weekends, Freer could combine the two passions he shared with Eriksson - expensive jewelry and flashy vehicles - by roaring around on a Harley-Davidson with a diamond-etched crankcase.

His partner in 2004 Eriksson was rewarded with an annual compensation package that included $867,465 in salary, $1,365,456 in bonuses, and 884,024 shares of stock, along with an "automobile allowance" of $104,095.

Before launching the gaming device, the company bought a modeling agency to support its modeling efforts. "To add to the glitter, in 2004 Gizmondo purchased a 75 percent interest in a London modeling agency

called Isis, ensuring that there would be plenty of beautiful young women at its parties and events." Even flashier than the Gizmondo were the booth babes and dollies hawking the device.

Tiger launched Gizmondo in Europe and the US and the company swiftly went bankrupt. In the end, the company's "SEC filings show "sustained net losses aggregating over $382.5 million" in the 45 months preceding the resignations of Freer and Eriksson." Gizmondo leaves many questions of who these people were. The company's first 10-K SEC filing described Freer as a "co-founder of software company VXtreme," but Freer had never been involved with VXtreme (which Microsoft purchased in 1997). "A minor typo," Carrender explained when a reporter at the San Jose Mercury News pointed out the discrepancy: Freer had actually founded Weextreme, which Carrender described as an "offshore-based Internet consulting company that ceased to operate in the late 1990s." (Wired has been unable to verify that such a company existed.) Official papers also said that Freer once served as a trustee of London's prestigious King's Medical Research Trust. He never has.

The scheme unfolded when, "On February 21, 2006, Eriksson lost control of a million dollar Ferrari Enzo sports car which he allegedly drove while drunk on the road in California. Eriksson claimed to have been a passenger in the car, but this claim was not supported by forensic evidence. The car itself was not owned by Eriksson, but was claimed by the Bank of Scotland during the bankruptcy of Tiger Telematics."

Ex-Gizmondo Exec Eriksson Charged In Ferrari Crash - April 17, 2006

Ex-Gizmondo Exec Eriksson Charged In Ferrari Crash - April 17, 2006
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=8934

Former Gizmondo handheld console executive Stefan Eriksson has been charged on multiple counts following his high-profile Ferrari crash in Los Angeles in February, according to an Associate Press report.

Eriksson, who resigned from the now bankrupt Gizmondo Europe last October following controversy over Gizmondo's financial performance and significant financial perks to company directors, was claiming that he was merely a passenger in the 2003 Ferrari Enzo, which crashed into a light pole on the Pacific Coast Highway, shearing the car in two.

A 'German man called Dietrich', the supposed driver, according to Eriksson, allegedly fled the scene, but the Los Angeles police department have now charged Eriksson with two misdemeanor counts of drunken driving, indicating that they disbelieve his story.

In addition, and more seriously, Eriksson has been arraigned on felony charges of embezzlement, grand theft and possession of a gun by a felon, resulting from his importation to the U.S. of two Enzo Ferraris and a rare Mercedes worth an estimated $3.8 million, according to authorities.

Deputy District Attorney Steven Sowders commented in a statement that these cars were simply leased to Eriksson from multiple British financial institutions, and he had no right to remove them from England. Bail for Eriksson, who had already been arrested on suspicion of a subset of the charges, was set at $5 million, and he could face up to 14 years in prison if convicted.

Mistrial Declared For Former Gizmondo Exec - November 6, 2006

Mistrial Declared For Former Gizmondo Exec - November 6, 2006
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=11561

After a week-long trial and a day of deliberations, a California jury has been deadlocked and a mistrial declared in the grand theft auto and fraud case of former Gizmondo executive Stefan Eriksson.

The charges were first brought in April of this year, when it was reported that, following a high-profile Ferrari crash, Eriksson had been arraigned on felony charges of embezzlement, grand theft and possession of a gun by a felon, resulting from his importation to the U.S. of two of the Enzo Ferraris and a rare Mercedes worth an estimated $3.8 million, according to authorities.

While the trial for the felony gun possession trial will be held separately and has yet to begin, Eriksson had already plead no contest to charges that he was driving drunk during the Ferrari crash. He maintained, though, that the autos were not stolen, but rather that he had simply ceased to make regular payments since the end of 2005 following the crash of Gizmondo.

Jurors declared the trial deadlocked after deliberations ended with a vote of 10-2 in favor of convicting Eriksson on the grand theft charges, and presiding Judge Patricia Schnegg declared a mistrial. Los Angeles district attorney spokeswoman Jane Robison has commented that the prosecutors intend to re-try the case and will begin the jury selection process shortly.

Former Gizmondo Exec Pleads Guilty, Sentenced To Prison - November 8, 2006

Former Gizmondo Exec Pleads Guilty, Sentenced To Prison - November 8, 2006
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=11599

Following news of a mistrial declared in the grand theft auto and fraud case of Stefan Eriksson, the former Gizmondo executive has today entered a surprise guilty plea to charges of embezzlement, illegal weapon possession, and drunk driving, and has been sentenced to three and a half years in a California jail.

The charges against the former Gizmondo handheld console executive stemmed from his high-profile crash in Los Angeles in February of this year. The vehicle, an exotic Enzo Ferrari, turned out to have been illegally imported from the United Kingdom and was, along with another Ferrari and a rare Mercedes, still owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

According to Eriksson's lawyer, the guilty plea was entered due to concerns over costs and time associated with going forward with another trial. "Essentially, it was what Stefan wanted to do," commented attorney Jim Parkman in a statement to the media. "Stefan believes he can be successful in the future. He wanted to move on and ultimately be out of jail in a year."

However, once Eriksson is released from prison, he will be deported from the United States as a condition of his guilty plea. In addition, Eriksson's Bel-Air mansion, estimated to be worth between $4 and $5 million, was also seized by officials and will be sold in order to pay fines and offer restitution to banks embroiled in the proceedings.