STOCKHOLM - A court in Sweden on June 17 convicted 10 people of illegally dumping toxic waste, including a former stripper who once described herself as the “Queen of Trash”, in the country’s biggest environmental crime trial.

The five central figures in the case were handed prison sentences ranging from two to six years.

Waste management company Think Pink was found guilty of dumping or burying some 200,000 tonnes of waste from the Stockholm area at 21 sites from 2015 to 2020, with no intention of processing it correctly.

In a 692-page verdict, the Sodertorn district court sentenced Think Pink’s former chief executive Bella Nilsson to six years behind bars for 19 counts of “aggravated environmental crime”.

Nilsson worked as a stripper and managed a sex club in Stockholm in the 1990s, getting convicted for accounting crimes in 1998.

She wrote a memoire – A Stripper’s Confession – before going on to win a prestigious award in 2018 for entrepreneurship with Think Pink.

The four others received prison sentences ranging from two to four-and-a-half years.

“The group’s waste management activities have posed risks – in certain instances, substantial risks – to both human health and the environment,” judge Niklas Schullerqvist wrote in a statement.

“There is no doubt that environmental offences were committed at the sites where the waste was handled.”

Think Pink was hired by municipalities, construction companies, apartment co-operatives and private individuals to dispose of primarily building materials but also electronics, metals, plastics, wood, tyres and toys.

But the firm left the piles of waste unsorted and abandoned, the court heard.

High levels of toxic PCB compounds, lead, mercury, arsenic and other chemicals had been released into the air, soil and water, endangering the health of human, animal and plant life, the court found.

Nilsson – who has now changed her name to Fariba Vancor – argued during the trial that Think Pink had “followed the law”.

During the proceedings, her lawyers rejected the prosecution’s claim the company used falsified documents to mislead authorities, saying any wrongdoing was “by mistake”.

Her defence team was surprised by June 17’s verdict.

“It was a little unexpected,” lawyer Jan Tibbling told daily Aftonbladet, adding: “Of course we’re not happy.”

He said h...