The former head of a Muslim school in Sweden is accused of scamming millions of Swedish kronor from taxpayers and funnelling the cash to Somalia where it funded an Islamist group.
Abdirizak Waberi, a former MP for the centre-right Moderates and former head of the Muslim Römosse School in Gothenburg, has been accused of scamming taxpayers for 13 million Swedish kronor (£1.1 million/$1.5 million) and sending the money to Somalia.
Waberi has become the prime suspect in two investigations into financial crime and has had his passport confiscated as prosecutors fear he may be a flight risk, newspaper Aftonbladet reports.
Investigations into the activities of Waberi suggest that he funnelled cash to various recipients in Somalia that were supposed to go towards education and humanitarian efforts relating to the African country’s fishing industry.
Broadcaster SVT notes that he is alleged to have sent scam invoices between the school and two companies he owns and then sent money abroad.
“Thirteen million kronor in municipal grants intended for school activities has disappeared into other things,” prosecutor Henric Fagher told the broadcaster. Waberi was charged with embezzlement on Tuesday.
According to Aftonbladet, some of the money sent to Somalia went to the Islamist National Unity Party headed by Waberi himself. The party is said to reject violence, but wants the Somali constitution to be based on Islam and Islamic laws.
“Some of it goes to his hotel and travel expenses abroad, a large part goes to two Somali organisations. One is said to be a relief organisation, the other a political party,” prosecutor Fagher said.
The indictment for embezzlement comes just months after Waberi was sacked from his role as head of the Römosse School in June of this year when allegations of financial embezzlement surfaced against him.
Waberi commented on the issue at the time, claiming that the charges were a plot against him by others who wanted to take power at the schools. “This is their way of smearing me. It’s a personal attack,” he said.
Swedish taxpayer cash has gone to radical Islamist groups in the past, as a 2020 report noted that 1.2 billion Swedish kronor (£104,136,000/$137,400,000) had gone towards 49 companies and groups run by radicals over a five year period.
The majority of cash is also said to have come from school funding from local municipalities and grants from the Swedish National Agency for Education.
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