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“The company has laid off all paper employees, but has applied for grants for those who work 100 percent.”
This is stated in one of the approximately 330 tips that have been sent to Tillväxtverket so far about suspected cheating with the support for short-term work. The support is paid by the authority and can go to companies that leave part-time employees.
– We take all advice seriously and research it as much as possible. Some tips we can act on directly, others are based on things we can verify in the survey after three months, says Tim Brooks, Head of the Tillväxtverket Business Department.
It can be difficult to get money back from criminals
The tips so far apply to just over 250 different companies. In less than two months, over SEK 21.4 billion has been paid in support money for short-term work, and much of the focus has been on quick payments and then on subsequent checks.
But both the Police and the Eko Crime Authority see great risks with this and that large sums can be incorrectly paid and become difficult to recover.
“The most important thing is to do initial checks before paying the money,” says Lotta Mauritzson, a crime prevention officer at the National Police Fraud Center.
– It is much worse to focus on later control and work on recovery. It may work with those who are basically law-abiding, but history shows that criminals are not known to pay, says Stefan Lundberg, chief prosecutor with the Swedish Criminal Investigation Authority.
Control work is in progress.
The head of the Growth Agency department does not want to comment on the details about the checks or if any of the advice has led to suspension of payments or demands for reimbursement. The authority also does not mean whether police reports have been made yet.
“Our work with fraud and control is constantly evolving and we have a good working relationship with other authorities so that we can do it in a good way,” says Tim Brooks, Head of the Tillväxtverket Department.
Do you know more about suspected cheating with layoff support? Contact the SVT reporter.
