Key Takeaways
- Swedish businessman Olof K. Gustafsson, former CEO of Escobar Inc., was sentenced in the U.S. to 48 months in prison for a multimillion-kronor fraud that exploited Pablo Escobar’s name and image.
- Between 2019 and 2023, he and his associates sold knockoff or nonexistent products like Escobar-branded foldable phones, a flamethrower, and “Escobar Cash” crypto, often sending buyers cheap promo items or paperwork instead of the advertised goods.
- Prosecutors say Gustafsson hyped the scam by sending fake prototype devices to influencers and funneled proceeds through accounts in the U.S., Sweden, and the UAE; he must also pay about $25,000 in fines and $1.3 million in restitution.
The name Pablo Escobar has spent decades fueling books, movies, TV shows, and internet mythology. Now it's at the center of a multimillion-dollar fraud case.
According to Swedish news outlet Aftonbladet, businessman Olof K. Gustafsson has been sentenced to 48 months in federal prison in the United States after admitting he used Escobar's infamous brand to sell products that either never existed or never reached customers, defrauding buyers out of roughly 13 million Swedish kronor (about $1.2 million).
Gustafsson, 32, was the CEO of Escobar Inc., a company that marketed itself around the image of the late Colombian drug kingpin. Between July 2019 and November 2023, prosecutors said Gustafsson and his associates copied products already available on the market, advertised nearly identical versions under the Escobar name at lower prices, and accepted customer payments despite having no intention—or ability—to deliver many of the items.
After his arrest at his home in Marbella, Spain, in December 2023, Gustafsson spent months fighting extradition before being transferred to the U.S. in March 2025. He later pleaded guilty to five charges as part of an agreement with federal prosecutors.
The products ranged from bizarre to flashy. Customers were promised an "Escobar Flamethrower," foldable smartphones called the Escobar 1 and Escobar 2, a supposed 24-karat gold-plated "Escobar Gold 11 Pro Phone," and even a cryptocurrency known as Escobar Cash. Instead of receiving the gadgets they ordered, many buyers were sent low-value promotional items or paperwork.
Federal prosecutors detailed how the scheme worked in a statement announcing the sentence. To generate buzz, Gustafsson allegedly mailed prototype devices to technology reviewers and influencers, including ordinary Samsung Galaxy phones wrapped in gold-colored foil and presented as premium Escobar-branded products.
When paying customers later complained that their purchases never arrived, prosecutors said the company relied on shipping records for items like certificates of ownership, books, or other promotional material to falsely suggest orders had been fulfilled.
Authorities also alleged that Gustafsson controlled bank accounts in the United States, Sweden, and the United Arab Emirates that were used to receive and move proceeds from the fraud.
The real Pablo Escobar hardly needs an introduction. Born in Colombia in 1949, the Medellín Cartel leader built a cocaine empire that at one point supplied an estimated 80% of the cocaine entering the United States. His fortune was estimated at between $25 billion and $30 billion, while his reign was marked by bombings, assassinations, and thousands of deaths under his infamous plata o plomo—"silver or lead"—strategy of bribery or violence.
After escaping his self-built prison, La Catedral, in 1992, Escobar became the target of a 16-month international manhunt before Colombian authorities fatally shot him on a Medellín rooftop in December 1993.
In addition to his prison sentence, Gustafsson was ordered to pay the equivalent of roughly $25,000 in fines and about $1.3 million in restitution to victims.
