As Kalla fakta previously revealed, employees of the State Board of Institutions, Sis, are suspected of being part of an extensive bribery scheme in which employees of Ystad municipality and the security company Securitas are also involved. Ten people are indicted for a series of cases of giving and receiving bribes.
When Kalla fakta goes through the indictment, a picture emerges of close contacts and friendship between the security company’s employees and the authorities. Among other things, they have taken joint trips, eaten expensive dinners together and posed together in photos from cars, ferries and restaurants.
– The picture that is painted is that it is a comradely and friendly relationship. In the chats in the preliminary investigation, they have a jargon, it seems to be inside jokes that indicate that there is a relationship there and that they did things together. It is problematic, says Patrik Bremdal, docent in constitutional law at Uppsala University.
Joint dinners at Store Thor
On five occasions, people from Sis and the municipality have been invited to joint dinners at the long-standing restaurant Store Thor in Ystad, according to the indictment.
The bills for the dinners total over SEK 40,000. At a dinner in April 2022, the group has, among other things, ordered three bottles of vintage wine from Burgundy and rum from Barbados. Tonight’s bill: just over SEK 11,800.
– It is crystal clear that you cannot allow yourself to be offered something like this as a public employee. The rules are so clear, you have to say no to everything. The more connection there is between the administrator and the person who wants to give a gift, the more important it is to say no. Accepting gifts and invitations and invitations damages trust in the state, says Patrik Bremdal.
Trips to Puttgarden and Copenhagen
According to the indictment, Sis and the municipality have also allowed themselves to be invited on a series of trips. Among other things, to Copenhagen and Puttgarden in Germany. On some occasions, the purpose must have been to buy alcohol to take home.
In a previous interview with TV4, the prosecutor summarized the suspicions against the government employees as follows:
– It can be stated that they have been invited on a fairly extensive scale. It has been recurring and it has been going on for several years, says prosecutor Johan Lindmark at the national anti-corruption unit.
At the time of the suspected bribery offences, the security personnel worked at Stanley security, a company that was later bought out by Securitas.