Three former board members of the housing association Villa Fehr have been reported to the police suspected of gross embezzlement of 65 million kronor, according to SVT Blekingenytt. The contractor for Villa Fehr went bankrupt, leaving the project with unpaid costs, the outlet reported.
The housing association Säbyholms Herrgård was formed in 2019 to convert an old school building into twelve condominiums, TV4 Nyheterna reported. On January 5, 2024, Säbyholms Herrgård received an enforcement decision from the Swedish Enforcement Authority for 10.7 million kronor, according to the outlet. The total debts of Säbyholms Herrgård amounted to over 14.2 million kronor, TV4 Nyheterna said. According to a letter from the former chairman dated January 18, the board took credits that were not recorded.
There are naturally good answers to this, it's no oddities. There are agreements that say what one should and should not do.
Questionable loans and financial irregularities have emerged at Säbyholms Herrgård. The former chairman took out several loans in the association's name that were not recorded in the financial plan or annual reports, TV4 Nyheterna reported. One loan of six million kronor was taken from a lender offering quick business loans with high interest rates, according to the outlet. The former chairman claims the loan money went to the builder, but where the money ended up is unclear, TV4 Nyheterna said. The former chairman managed to take credits as sole signatory, despite the association's statutes requiring at least two board members to sign all agreements, the outlet reported.
Consultant fraud and missing funds have further plagued Säbyholms Herrgård. An external consultant was brought in to save the economy and collected nearly 3 million kronor from nine residents as 'extra contributions', TV4 Nyheterna reported. The consultant transferred the money to his private account instead of to the association, and about 1.3 million kronor is still missing, according to the outlet. The board of Säbyholms Herrgård has now sued the consultant, TV4 Nyheterna said.
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 reallocated to the builder's company.
A pattern of involvement in multiple housing associations has been identified. The two men involved in Säbyholms Herrgård were also involved in two other housing associations in the Stockholm area, TV4 Nyheterna reported. One of those associations, Brf Karlskronaviken, was forced into bankruptcy after the builder, among other things, pledged buyers' already mortgaged homes to another creditor, according to the outlet. In the other association, members suspected the two men early and voted them out of the board at a relatively early stage, TV4 Nyheterna said.
The police response has been delayed, with investigation challenges noted. A few days after the enforcement decision, residents of Säbyholms Herrgård filed a police report, but it took until summer for the case to reach the prosecutor's desk, TV4 Nyheterna reported. It has been over two years since the events at Säbyholms Herrgård were reported to the police, but prosecutors have not yet filed charges, and several preliminary investigations have been closed, according to the outlet. Hans Morgell, senior prosecutor at the Swedish Prosecution Authority's special fraud group, says there are difficulties in investigating crimes in housing associations, including establishing a crime classification and requiring many resources.
Everything has gone to the main person. 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.
The bank's role and enforcement authority's position have been clarified. Danske Bank states it has no obligation to check association statutes, only to ensure repayment ability. The Swedish Enforcement Authority states it is not uncommon for a property to be sold at an enforcement auction while a criminal investigation is ongoing.
An additional housing association is facing financial difficulties. According to Östersunds-Posten, a housing association in Strömsund has had financial difficulties for several years, and the municipality has both guaranteed and lent money directly to the association since it was built in the early 1990s. When it became clear the Strömsund association could no longer pay its debts, the options were bankruptcy or liquidation, the outlet reported.
If the bank didn't see to it that they got the right signatures, that's more than I can answer.
The other is that it requires many resources to sort out what actually happened. The two are of course connected. If I can't sort out what has happened, it also becomes difficult to claim what crime I am alleging.