State Prosecutor ends – because of sluggish legal systems

When Thomas Forsberg told him that he would resign, his boss dropped his notepad straight down his knee. So surprised he was.

Until Monday, Thomas Forsberg worked at the Prosecutor’s Office’s national unit against corruption, but not as any prosecutor. He is one of Sweden’s 25 state prosecutors, a kind of spearhead that leads investigations into complex, severe or socially dangerous crimes.

For example SCA-Härvan which was rolled up when Svenska Dagbladet revealed that top managers went private jet and business heights were offered luxurious hunts.

But the lack of resources within the police meant that it was not possible to turn on every stone.

– I got an investigator part -time even though we brought in hundreds of thousands of emails to be reviewed. It was not possible to get to the bottom of that investigation, says Thomas Forsberg.

Several top names resigned. But the preliminary investigation into, among other things, bribery was closed due to the limitation period and because it was not possible to disprove that travel was service -related.

Another example is a bribery side manager who worked at a Swedish embassy in an African country. « The police cannot even provide an investigator who can French, » explained Forsberg With badly hidden frustration.

And now he has resigned, after three decades as a prosecutor.

– The judiciary often only acts when the injury has already occurred. It has become clear to me that the real change is not just happening in the courtroom, he says.

DN meets him Last day at work. The room is cleaned up and farewell coffee purchased. The Prosecutor’s Office is located at Kungsholmen in Stockholm’s inner city. On floor six is ​​the national unit against corruption that handles all cases that deal with suspected bribes, and crime thoughts that are associated with it.

Those who investigate the crimes are a few blocks away, in the police house, also formed in a special group: the national anti-corruption group at the police’s national operational department, NOA.

A specialist unit, that is. But according to Thomas Forsberg, he is repeatedly forced to hold back and limit his investigations.

– – There are investigators at NOA, but they are far too few and in some investigations there is no proper excellence. And managers are often replaced.

Recently, Professor Leif GW Persson in SVT said that Sweden belongs to the least corrupt proportion of the world and that the problem does not make him « climb the walls ».

Thomas Forsberg, on the other hand, believes that more people should realize what it actually looks like, under the surface.

– That statement by Leif feels more like a guy guess and is very difficult. I do not think you should be too alarmist, but be aware of the risks of corruption.

He worries that US President Donald Trump has paused something called Foreign Corruption Practices Act, FCPA. A tool that the United States has so far used to fight corruption in the world.

Forsberg compares with how gang crime is stuck in Sweden. It would have been easier to fight at an early stage.

– If you had your eyes open 10, 15 years ago and taken action, it might have been prevented. Same with corruption.

Sweden has dropped the last ten years on Transparency Internationala list that compares the world’s countries and where the least corrupt is at the top. Thomas Forsberg calls corruption the invisible enemy of society, which erodes confidence and justice without anyone noticing it until it is too late.

There are no crime victims here who sound an alarm, instead everyone serves directly involved in it. For example, employment intermediaries who grant incorrect grants or inspection techniques approving cars against bribes.

– Ultimately, this leads to democracy being deteriorated, says Thomas Forsberg.

He talks about the social contract, the special responsibility that everyone who works publicly has, and that the insight into what it means has changed.

Today, he says, another culture has come in where it is more important to see yourself.

– It becomes a breeding ground that makes you more influential.

Thomas Forsberg describes how a case became an eye opener for him, when it comes to how other authorities act on corruption. It is about the so -called Östermalm doctor, a man from Nigeria who came to Sweden and became a kind of court supplier of drug -classified drugs to customers in business and organized crime.

Among other things, he prescribed the very addictive opiate Oxycontin. When the police conducted the house at the clinic, they were met by a chaos where bundles of banknotes and drifts with tablets were holes about noise.

Thomas Forsberg was in a hurry.

– I felt I had to stop this before something happens. Before people die.

But despite the conviction in both district court and court of law, the Östermalms physician retained his professional identification. The process of recalling it took several years.

Now Thomas Forsberg will try to attack the corruption from the other side, with his newly started company.

The plan is to teach people and organizations to prevent corruption. Build resilience, as he describes it, and help them act properly if you discover corruption.

In Sweden, he believes, or rather, hopes that the topic of corruption will be the next major election issue.

– I am convinced that the 2030 election will be about securing a society where corruption will not be attached. It will be a struggle for trust and justice.