Over a billion Swedish kronor, or more than $100 million, in taxpayer-backed funds intended to support preschools and schools in Sweden have been siphoned off through an Islamist-affiliated network engaged in welfare fraud, an investigation by the Swedish newspaper Expressen revealed last Wednesday.
This came after police raided an apartment in Gavle, north of Stockholm, where several individuals who were connected to radical and violent Islamist extremism were staying.
In particular, police were searching for Rabie Karam, who is "one of the main actors" in a network of independent Swedish schools linked to recruiting and spreading radical Islam, Expressen noted.
Karam was convicted in 2024 and is wanted in order to serve an eight-month prison sentence, the outlet stated.
The outlet attempted to contact Karam, but he declined an interview. However, he clarified that he is currently in Egypt, and claims to be too sick to return to Sweden, while denying any wrongdoing.
“I'm sitting here in Egypt. I can't do anything,” he said.
Some of the schools were closed by authorities, and others are under investigation for financial crimes.
Expressen's investigation further found that these financial crimes included welfare fraud.
Former Swedish MP embezzles funds from Gothenburg school
One school in Gothenburg received 462 million kronor in school funds. Somali-Swedish former MP Abdirizik Waberi was the principal of this school and was convicted for having taken 12 million kronor out of school funds via fake invoices for IT costs, the report noted.
Large sums were sent to Waberi's Islamist party in Somalia, while others were spent on private purchases, including Thai sex clubs, political party membership fees, and trips to luxury hotels in southeast Asia and Kenya, the report added.
The owner of another Gothenburg school, which employed former Islamic State terrorists who returned to Sweden, stole millions, transferring the funds to Malta, and disappeared.
Imam Abo Raad, based out of Galve, was identified by the outlet as one of the leaders in the Salafist network behind the Swedish schools. Raad had been taken into custody by the Swedish Security Service in Spring 2019 when they deemed him to be posing a threat to national security.
The Swedish government later decided that he should be deported due to his threat level, but that conditions in his home country of Iraq meant that this could not happen. He later left Sweden, and the security service assesses that he will not return to Sweden, the outlet added.
Hussein al-Jibury, another Imam taken into custody in Spring 2019, is also found to have been connected to the network.
Based out of Umea, Jibury was financially responsible for a series of preschools in Vasterbotten, where millions of kronor were transferred to private individuals, the report found.
Jibury is currently serving a two-year prison sentence for financial crime, and had previously downplayed his role in the scheme to Expressen.
Another major player in the network, according to the outlet's investigations, is Mohammad al-Kotrani. He was the "designated accountant" of the network, who left Sweden after accumulating 2.1 million kronor in tax debts.
Kotrani is the son-in-law of Raad, the outlet noted, and has acted as a financial advisor to several companies under review.
Kotrani has also been convicted together with Karam for accounting crimes. He faces a ban on business activity and has fled Sweden, the outlet noted.
Husband and wife, Wasim el-Jomaa and Eva Freih, ran a preschool together. Expressen's investigation found that the couple transferred "large amounts" of funds to the extremist United Muslims of Sweden, which Jomaa also chairs.
Prosecutors accuse the couple of systematically mismanaging the school's accounting, which they deny.
Kotrani worked as an accountant for the preschool, the outlet added.