"They have simply used the companies as their own wallet, you could say," says Lotta Nielsen, senior prosecutor at the Swedish Economic Crime Agency (EBM) to TT.
On the surface, it looked like a completely ordinary healthcare group with three healthcare centers, two assistance companies and a vaccination operation in Western Sweden. But behind the scenes, owners and company managers were funneling tax money from the region, the Social Insurance Agency and municipalities between the companies.
Links to criminal networks
Through accounting fraud, false invoices, tax fraud and money laundering, multi-million-dollar sums were siphoned off for luxury consumption, according to Nielsen.
Among the three main perpetrators are a local politician who has been a juror in the Gothenburg District Court and another with connections to the motorcycle network Hells Angels, according to Nielsen:
One of the principals has connections to criminal networks.
The eleven people are charged with serious accounting crimes, serious tax crimes and serious business money laundering during the years 2022-2024. They are also charged with attempted serious fraud, after the suspects used false information to try to obtain a large loan to purchase a luxury villa.
Nielsen is now demanding that several luxury cars, a villa with an estimated value of 22.5 million, expensive clothes, watches and bags be confiscated. She is also demanding a corporate fine of around 16 million.
She expects the principals to be sentenced to several years in prison.
"It's true that there are a lot of crimes, so you have to look at a total penalty. It's a bit early to say, but it's about several years, of course," says Nielsen.
Had 11,000 enrolled patients
According to EBM, the trial in Gothenburg District Court will begin at the end of March this year and last until May or June.
The indictment is based on a high-profile raid a year ago, in which, among other agencies, the national task force collaborated with the Swedish Health and Care Inspectorate (Ivo) and the Swedish Tax Agency.
Shortly after the crackdown, the Västra Götaland Region terminated the contracts with immediate effect for three health centers, with a total of 11,000 registered patients. Demands have also been raised for refunds of multi-million SEK amounts for incorrect payments.
