Botkyrka Municipality suspends its directors after high-profile trip to New York

The municipality of Botkyrka, south of Stockholm, received 65 million Swedish kronor in government grants to stop new recruitment into criminal gangs. But instead, the money was used for a week-long study trip for 23 people. The municipality was given nearly $65 million in government tax money — of which $350,000 went to the high-profile New York trip.

– We added an external review after the internal review regarding the study trip to New York. This review revealed further irregularities, which meant that we chose to dismiss three managers, Lennart Agen, press director at Botkyrka Municipality, tells SVT Nyheter Stockholm.

The managers suspect a breach of the employment contract.

Among other things, the Director-General of the Department of Culture and Entertainment has been suspended from his duties with immediate effect while the investigation continues.

– What we see is that we suspect violations of the employment agreement, and that is one of the reasons for suspending it immediately, says Lennart Agen.

How could this happen?

– We expect the review to answer that – how it was done, how it happened, and what people thought when they acted this way, says Lennart Agen.

What will happen now in the future?

– The review is ongoing and work is underway urgently to produce the final report. We will then take a position on possible measures, says Lennart Agen.

The final report is expected to be completed within four to six weeks.