Sweden's Rs 31K crore COVID relief fund aiding terror sympathisers, neo-Nazis: Report

Widespread misuse of COVID-19 funds given by the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth has been discovered in a joint investigation done by the newspapers Expressen and Acta Publica. The Swedish government's $4.2 billion (approximately Rs 31,547 crore) rescue package to assist businesses during the pandemic has been hailed as the single largest investment in Swedish history, Sputnik reported.

However, subsequent investigation has revealed numerous instances of the assistance falling into the wrong, and potentially dangerous, hands. Sputnik reported that according to the investigation, terror financiers, neo-Nazis, Islamists and motorcycle gangs, among others, have received hundreds of thousands of kronor in state funding.

Over 150 entrepreneurs linked to organised crime

Moreover, there are approximately 150 entrepreneurs who can be linked to organised crime or criminal gangs in various ways, according to the report. The government's COVID-19 Aid package of SEK 38 billion ($4.2 billion), to alleviate the economic crisis during the pandemic has been hailed as the single largest investment in Swedish history.

A total of 76,000 companies have received state assistance, with industry titans such as Scania, Volvo Cars, and SAS airline among the largest. Sweden has previously faced external and internal criticism for its failure to crackdown on organised crime, including ethnic gangs, and for its overly lax treatment of jihadi returnees, only a handful of whom have been prosecuted.

Several entrepreneurs have Islamist ties

In addition, a dozen of the entrepreneurs in the review have Islamist ties. A man in his 40s in Skne County, who the Security Police (Säpo) described as being in contact with pro-violence Islamist milieus in Sweden and providing support to a terrorist organisation in Syria, received over SEK 300,000 ($33,000) in short-term support. In Gothenburg, a 30-year-old entrepreneur identified by police as a returnee from Syria received approximately SEK 140,000 ($15,500), Sputnik reported. Reports suggest, his brother was killed in the Daesh caliphate in Iraq in 2016.

Another entrepreneur in his forties on Sweden's West Coast who, according to police, rented out his apartment as a meeting place for an Islamist network sits as a deputy on the board of a taxi company that has been granted more than SEK 300,000 ($33,000). One particular case involves a Stockholm exchange office who the police suspect used to launder hundreds of millions of kronor in drug money. During the police raid, more than ten million kronor (approximately $1 million) in cash was discovered on the premises.

Motorcycle gangs receiving COVID relief funds

According to the joint investigation, MC gangs such as the Bandidos and Hells Angels are also receiving relief funds. Finally, the list of entrepreneurs includes individuals with ties to extremism, such as neo-Nazi organisations like the Nordic Resistance Movement (NMR).

According to Niklas Kjellberg, press manager at the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, the authority performs all necessary checks for which it has legal support. “We check whether the representatives of the companies have a business ban or whether the companies have tax debts. We can not control other types of connections to different activities with the legal space we have today”, Kjellberg told Expressen. Another perennial issue that has previously raised concerns, is the provision of state funds to terror sympathisers in Sweden due to a lack of proper control. 

(With inputs from agencies, Image: AP)