When representatives from several authorities arrived at the company in Ängelholm municipality, they were met by workers who told them that they were forced to work hundreds of hours a week, that they had not been paid for several months and that they lived at the company in question.
The Swedish Work Environment Authority issued a fine of over 2.6 million and the border police drew up a report on human exploitation. The abuses at the workplace in Ängelholm might not have been discovered if they and seven other authorities had not jointly carried out the Flis operation over two days.
Paint: Take the criminals’ money
The goal of the operation is to reduce the criminals’ financial assets by, for example, stopping grant fraud and unhealthy competition between companies. To do this, about sixty companies and other addresses in the municipality were visited jointly by the authorities involved.
Part of the money comes from the discovery of so-called sham divorces. It is a method of benefit fraud that has become a common phenomenon. Couples who are separated on paper and registered at different addresses receive, for example, housing or maintenance allowance – but in fact still live together under one roof.
Hope for continuation
Similar efforts have been made in Helsingborg before, under the name Klöver, but never before in Ängelholm. The operation was led by the police, who hope it has led to permanent cooperation.
– Our hope is to arouse the interest of all authorities so that on a normal Tuesday night, two authorities can work together and do a check, says local police area manager Christian Nordin.
– So that we in the police lead operations every time without it working in everyday life.