2 million kronor. Klara Stenmark and neighbors filed a police report a few days after the enforcement decision, but it took until summer for the case to reach the prosecutor's desk. The chairman of Säbyholms Herrgård left his post shortly after the enforcement decision.
The former chairman took out several loans in the association's name that were not recorded in the economic plan or annual reports, including one loan of six million kronor from a lender offering quick business loans with high interest rates. In a letter dated January 18, the former chairman admitted that the board had taken credits that were not recorded, and he managed to take credits as sole signatory despite the association's bylaws requiring at least two board members to sign all agreements. Säbyholms Herrgård was formed in 2019 to convert an old school building into twelve condominiums, with the board consisting of the responsible developer and a man whose company offers management and board support services preparing an economic plan and bylaws.
I got the best of both worlds. I'm a real country girl and I like that it's very naturally beautiful so close to Lake Mälaren, but that there are still such good commuting opportunities to the big city and work.
3 million kronor still missing. The board of Säbyholms Herrgård has now sued the consultant. The two men involved in Säbyholms Herrgård were also involved in two other housing associations in the Stockholm area, with one association, Brf Karlskronaviken, forced into bankruptcy after the developer, among other things, mortgaged buyers' already mortgaged homes to another lender.
In the other association, members suspected the two men early and managed to vote them off the board at a relatively early stage. Separately, three former board members of the housing association Villa Fehr have been reported to the police on suspicion of serious embezzlement of 65 million kronor. It has been over two years since the events were reported to the police, but prosecutors have not yet filed charges, and several preliminary investigations have been closed.
It was a total shock.
Hans Morgell, senior prosecutor at the Swedish Prosecution Authority's special fraud group, says there are several difficulties in investigating crimes in housing associations, including establishing a crime classification and requiring many resources. Danske Bank, the bank in question, states it has no obligation to check association bylaws. The chairman claims the money went to the developer, but where the money ended up is unclear, and the former chairman cannot remember the purpose of the six-million-kronor loan, except that the money went to the developer.
The Swedish Enforcement Authority states it is not uncommon for a property to be sold at an executive auction while a criminal investigation is ongoing.
First there was talk of one million that had to come in. Then it was four million.
I am sorry if it has affected the association negatively and am now working to have the loans separated from the association through redemption or that they should be reassigned to the developer's company.
Everything has gone to the principal. Then I don't have any immediate check on exactly what they have gone to. But a lot has naturally gone to the accelerating interest costs that the association had in connection with these loans.
If the bank did not see to it that they got the right signatures, that is more than I can answer.
The other is that it requires many resources to sort out what has actually happened. The two are of course connected. If I cannot sort out what has happened, it also becomes difficult to claim what crime I am alleging.