Cold facts can reveal how the Christian Democrats’ party secretaries try to hide large private contributions. Hidden recordings show how high-ranking officials try to find loopholes in the law on accounting for party contributions.
– In principle, you could give SEK 238 per day for four years without there being any accounting for it at all, says deputy party secretary Robert Lisborg.
The law requires that each party openly report to the Kammarkollegiet the name of each person who gives more than SEK 24,150. Transparency should prevent corruption, as it makes it possible to examine which interests lie behind politics. Political decisions should not be for sale. The Christian Democrats are outwardly clear about this.
– I think that is fundamentally positive, so that you don’t get these suspicions of corruption and things like that. That we have a transparent system. If you want to give money to a party, you must also stand for it and show it, says party secretary Peter Kullgren in an interview in front of the camera.
“Important that it does not become public”
But when he is in a secret conversation with a donor who wants to donate half a million, it sounds different.
– If it is important to you, I am careful that it is not something that should become public, says party secretary Peter Kullgren to the anonymous donor who works on behalf of Kalla Fakta.
In the same conversation, the party secretary schedules a meeting with the Christian Democrats’ deputy party secretary and head of finance, Robert Lisborg, to discuss solutions regarding the donor’s wish to remain anonymous. The meeting is proposed to take place in Sweden’s Riksdag and Peter Kullgren will come up with ideas before then about how the requirement for openness can be circumvented.
– Then there is a bit of a gray area, I would say, around individual candidates, Peter Kullgren is heard saying in the conversation with the donor.
– You mean that you could give to 20 individual candidates instead if it is less than half the base amount, asks the donor.
Kullgren answers.
– Yes, and this is probably where it becomes a gray area.
The scheme is revealed with a hidden camera
Cold Facts equips the donor with a hidden camera to document the lunch meeting. There, deputy party secretary Robert Lisborg develops the arrangement that party secretary Peter Kullgren has already mentioned on the phone.
– You have to give exactly then, 23,500 for example, to that party and then how many candidates you want to add to that, says Robert Lisborg in the recording with the hidden camera.
The idea is therefore to round out the purpose of the law by having the donor spread the money among several different parliamentary candidates. During the meeting, another way to hide the donor’s identity is presented.
– In principle, you could give SEK 238 per day for four years without there being any accounting for it at all, says Robert Lisborg.
Watch the entire hidden recording with the party secretaries in the clip above
Cold facts have borrowed the identity of two businessmen with a considerable fortune. One of the men felt comfortable making the call himself and that the other wanted us to make the call for him. We have called the switchboard of the Riksdag parties to offer between half and a full million kroner for this year’s election campaign.
All parties have been given the same conditions.
With the help of secret recordings and hidden cameras, we have documented how parties handle the situation when a donor wants a large gift to be anonymous, something the law prohibits.
We have also offered money to two parliamentary candidates from each party. They have been chosen based on how likely we think they are to run a by-election campaign, and where possible at least one candidate has had links to each party’s youth federation. We have compared what they say with how it sounds in secret conversations with anonymous donors.
We have not offered any services in return, as the offer alone could constitute a bribery offence.