A former administrator at the Swedish Migration Agency is suspected of having taken payments for granting residence and work permits to applicants and their family members on incorrect grounds, local media reported Tuesday. The administrator is believed to have handled around a thousand cases. The migration agency has reviewed eight so far, and in seven of the cases, he was considered to have wrongly granted residence and work permits. “There is a suspicion that the person has received payment to carry out these permits,” Carl Bexelius, head of legal affairs at the agency, was quoted as saying by a local broadcaster. During the investigation, the immigration office received an anonymous message that the administrator in question had been paid as much as several hundred thousand Swedish Krona to grant a residence and work permit. He was reported to internal investigations by a unit manager in March last year, but a full investigation is not due to start until the summer, according to the broadcaster. Last August, three identical applications were granted permits naming the same company as an employer with 13 family members being included in addition to the three main applicants, and according to the Swedish Migration Agency’s review, there are several indications that this is likely to be sham employment. In another case, the suspect granted permission to one person and five family members in February last year, but after examination, the migration agency said “the employer is notorious for work permits for bogus employment” and that the application should have been rejected immediately.
Swedish immigration office administrator suspected of selling residence, work permits
