Prosecutors charge Swedish man for putting dead companion in a freezer and cashing in her pension

Prosecutors on Thursday charged a 55-year-old Swede with fraud and falsifying records for allegedly putting his dead companion in a freezer and cashing in her pension.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority said the man, who was not identified, carried out “systematic" fraud involving about 1.3 million kronor ($119,500).

The man had told investigators that he had put the Norwegian woman in a freezer after he finding her dead in their home. The two lived in Arjang, which is about 340 kilometers (211 miles) west of Stockholm.

The man had told family and friends that the woman was still alive.

"It must have been very stressful for family and friends to learn in this way that the woman had been dead for a long time,” said prosecutor Linda Karlsson.

“The man also used the freezer for other purposes, which I believe means that the deceased’s grave peace was violated every time the man opened and closed the freezer and constitutes an aggravating circumstance,” Karlsson added in a statement.

The woman was found in the freezer on March 16. The man was arrested three days later and has been held in pre-trial custody since. It was unclear when she had died.

At first investigators believed the woman had been murdered, but an investigation found nothing to back that up. However, investigators believe that the man somehow used aides to move the woman, so they did not rule out that someone else was involved.

A trial has been scheduled for later this month.