A harbor guard at Grefab in Gothenburg was bought out by the municipality after being sentenced to five years in prison for serious drug offenses. Despite using his workplace to hide crime money, the guard was allowed to resign with severance pay. The decision has sparked criticism, highlighting issues in handling misconduct within municipal operations.
Göteborg Harbor Guard Convicted of Drug Crimes Bought Out by Municipality
Göteborg Harbor Guard Convicted of Drug Crimes Bought Out by Municipality
A harbor guard at the municipal company Grefab in Gothenburg has been bought out after using his workplace to hide crime money. He has been sentenced to five years in prison for serious drug offenses.
"We have been fair," says CEO Anders Söderberg.
In October last year, police raided the municipal harbor company Grefab's premises in Gothenburg as part of a comprehensive drug investigation. The police showed particular interest in an employee's locker, where work clothes were stored.
On a shelf in the locker, wrapped in long johns, they found 99,500 SEK in 500 SEK notes.
The harbor guard was sentenced in June to five years in prison for serious drug offenses after being caught red-handed with a companion in his kitchen, packaging and pressing 1.3 kilos of cocaine with a large workshop press. In a closet, police also found over three kilos of cannabis, and the court determined that the money found in the guard's locker at Grefab was crime money, now confiscated.
"He stored crime money at work," says prosecutor James von Reis, who led the investigation against the harbor guard.
However, the conviction and the fact that the guard used Grefab's premises to hide crime money did not lead the municipal company to dismiss him. Instead, an agreement was made between the convicted guard and Grefab's CEO Anders Söderberg, allowing the guard to resign with four months' severance pay.
"What happened had nothing to do with the workplace. For us, it was about finding an agreement to move forward," says Anders Söderberg, claiming they followed standard practice.
Isn't there a connection when crime money is hidden at the workplace, in Grefab's premises?
"We were not informed about it. No one contacted us about it."
However, both the district court and the court of appeal's judgments clearly state that the prosecutor's demand for the confiscation of the seized cash was granted, as it was "much more likely" that the money was "proceeds of criminal activity" than anything else.
The court of appeal's judgment was published just over a week before the agreement with the guard was made. The district court's judgment came in the spring.
"We read it, and that's why we separated him from employment," says Anders Söderberg, explaining that they were advised to make an agreement rather than dismiss him.
"It was a more effective way to proceed."
What message does it send when someone is convicted of serious drug offenses, stores crime money in their work locker in your premises, and then is bought out?
"We don't see it as buying him out; we have been fair based on the relationship we had with him. It was the quickest way to separate him from employment. Regarding the crime, it was not clear to us that the money came from the crime."
After Expressen's revelation in August that a guide at Democracy and Citizen Service in Gothenburg could leave the job with a parachute worth 750,000 SEK, despite the administration believing there were grounds for dismissal due to documented connections to gang environments, the city faced harsh criticism from several quarters.
The local party Democrats recently proposed a motion in the municipal council, supported by the conservative opposition parties, demanding that dismissal be the main rule in cases of gross misconduct. The motion referred to the buyout of the democracy guide earlier this year, described as contrary to Gothenburg's city values.
"It's shocking; you don't think it's possible," says Democrats' party leader, municipal council member Martin Wannholt, upon hearing how Grefab acted in the harbor guard case.
"It's yet another example of Gothenburg's inability to distinguish right from wrong. The wrong signals are being sent. In our city, you can be employed and behave almost however you want, and all you get is some money in your pocket, and you leave quietly instead of doing the only right thing in such situations: outright dismissal. If you're unhappy with that, you can take legal action against us."
Alarm Raised About Grefab's Finances
The motion for dismissal as the main rule was voted down by S, V, and MP, who argued that there was already a handling of such situations in the municipality and that the motion was against the Swedish model.
The harbor guard was not suspended during the detention, which is often routine. Instead, a verbal decision was made on a verbal application from the guard that he was on leave during the detention period for personal reasons.
The four months' salary amounts to a cost for the company of just over 170,000 SEK, including taxes and fees.
Grefab operates the municipal small boat harbors in Gothenburg and is owned by the City of Gothenburg, Partille Municipality, Ale Municipality, and Mölndal City, with the City of Gothenburg as the majority owner.
In an annual report to the board in January, CEO Anders Söderberg himself raised the company's poor finances, which led to maintenance being delayed:
"The economy has been challenging during the year and has contributed to Grefab being forced to be restrictive in decisions about major maintenance measures during the autumn."