Organizations operating in Malmö have received millions of kroner in grants to support children and young people.
In Sweden, the funds donated for the benefit of children and young people have possibly been used for trips abroad by the leaders of the organizations, the purchase of designer clothes and lunches outside, reports SVT.
NMKY’s local branch KFUM Infinite and the Hikari organization operating in Malmö have received millions of kroner in grants from funds, foundations and authorities for projects aimed at supporting children and young people in particular. According to SVT, the organizations are connected to each other.
Swedish Broadcasting Corporation SVT’s investigative program Uppdrag Granskning and SVT’s Skåne news service have gone through hundreds of receipts for associations’ purchases and expenses from 2019–2021.
According to SVT, organizations have recorded purchases as expenses, which are not true.
The Swedish Tax Agency rejected these expenses as unrelated to the business and has subsequently taxed the associations 1.7 million kroner, or about 147,000 euros.
Dozens of trips abroad
In both organizations, a small group of leaders have traveled around the world. For example, Hikari made 29 trips abroad during the review period. Sometimes there were also children, wives or girlfriends.
KFUM Infinite’s managers have been in Thailand, Malaysia and Turkey, among others – sometimes for several weeks.
According to the associations, the trips were educational and inspirational trips where the family members acted as representatives of the association.
According to SVT, some of the leaders of another organization had gone out to eat four times a week, all year round. In the receipts, these are marked as work meetings.
The receipts show that the executives or their children have purchased vast quantities of appliances, clothing and electronics that have been delivered to the executives’ homes.
Hikari’s manager says that some of the goods have been bought for the association’s leisure shop in Malmö’s NMKY building, and it is not a private purchase.
House staff during SVT’s visit didn’t know such a store existed.
According to the leaders of both associations, it is a misunderstanding. The KFUM Infinite association has appealed the case.