Amid a violent gang problem that has spiraled so far out of control that the prime minister is considering deploying the military to attenuate the problem, Sweden’s Economic Crimes Authority has sounded the alarm that organized criminal gangs are diversifying their enterprises, warning that they’re setting up various ventures that are eligible to receive state funds.
The authority, whose mandate is to investigate and prosecute financial wrongdoing, says that, with their foray into state-supported businesses like healthcare clinics, vaccination centers, family home operations, and operations aimed at caring for unaccompanied migrant minors, gangs now make more money from financial crime than narcotic sales, the Swedish new portal Samnytt reports.
“We see that people are making inroads into health care, operating health centers, and vaccination clinics,” Sara Persson, who serves as a crime specialist at the Economic Crimes Authority, told the state-run broadcaster Sveriges Radio.
“We have seen that they have engaged in drug trafficking, and that is what they are accused of,” Persson continued. “We also see that the same people run companies that have been prosecuted for tax crimes, where they engaged in, for example, consulting support/family home operations and received money from municipalities to take care of unaccompanied [migrant] children.”
According to Persson, criminal profits from organized welfare fraud are estimated to amount to some SEK 6 billion (more than 580 million euros), roughly twice as much as the gangs make from the drug trade.
One of the organized criminal gangs taking advantage of the system and Swedish taxpayers to make millions of euros is the Foxtrot network, overseen from afar by one of Sweden’s most wanted criminals, 36-year-old Rawa Majid, known as “the Kurdish Fox,” from Turkey, where he has acquired citizenship.
Despite numerous extradition requests by the Swedish government, the Turkish government has repeatedly refused to extradite the drug lord who’s suspected of involvement in bombings, shootings, and murders, among other things, citing his Turkish citizenship.
The news comes just days after the Swedish government, in response to the ongoing bombings by criminal gangs targeting rivals, announced that it would establish a new explosives registry and PM Ulf Kristersson called in the country’s commander-in-chief to discuss military support for the police.
“We are in a very serious situation. What is extremely serious about the blasts in particular is that many innocent people are affected,” Sweden’s Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer during the announcement last week.
Two more bombings occurred in residential areas in suburbs of Stockholm on Monday morning, October 2nd.
