Swedish court finds man guilty of spying for Russia at truckmaker Scania

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A Swedish court on Wednesday sentenced a 47-year-old man to three years in prison for spying for Russia, which involved selling secret information from truckmaker Scania.

The court said it had found the man guilty of acquiring and selling the secret information from the truckmaker to a Russian embassy official. The court acquitted the man of similar espionage charges at Geely-owned carmaker Volvo Cars.

"To be convicted of espionage, it is required that Sweden's security can be damaged if the information benefits foreign powers," the court said in a statement.

"The district court has ruled that this is the case with regard to the information that the man obtained from Scania, while it has not been proven that this is the case with regard to the information from Volvo."

The court statement said the man regularly received cash at his meetings with the Russian embassy official, which it considered was compensation for the information provided.

The man was apprehended whilst meeting the diplomat in a restaurant, having just received 27,800 Swedish crowns ($3,242).

The man, who has denied wrongdoing, worked as a consultant for Volvo Cars in 2016 and 2017 and for Scania in 2018 and 2019, until he was arrested.

The man's lawyer said he would appeal.

Scania is owned by truckmaker Traton.

($1 = 8.5748 Swedish crowns)

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, additional reporting by Helena Soderpalm. Editing by Jane Merriman)