Prison and Probation Service reports 15 employees for bribery – consultant offered spa hotel stay
15 employees of the Prison and Probation Service in Nyköping, Sala, Västerås and Uppsala are being reported for prosecution on suspicion of bribery after receiving benefits from a consultant doctor.
Consultant doctor suspected of bribing Prison and Probation Service staff with hotel stay
The Prison and Probation Service has reported 15 employees at facilities in Nyköping, Sala, Västerås and Uppsala to the National Anti-Corruption Unit, according to SVT Nyheter. The report concerns suspicions that the employees received unauthorised benefits in various ways from a consultant doctor with a previous contract with the authority.
In January, 12 of the Prison and Probation Service's staff members were invited to dinner and an overnight stay at Steam Hotel in Västerås. The bill was paid by the consultant doctor and amounted to between 995 and 4,682 kronor per person. Employees at SIS and HVB homes in Enköping also participated in the hotel event.
According to the investigation, the background to the invitation was that the doctor had not received a new contract with the Prison and Probation Service and thus faced the end of his assignment.
During the course of the investigation, it also emerged that the consultant had invited three employees at the remand centre in Uppsala to a Christmas lunch in December – an arrangement that was also investigated as a suspected improper benefit.
The Prison and Probation Service's internal investigation, conducted in spring, resulted in a prosecution report against all 15 staff members. In the investigation, several of those affected are stated to have felt unwell and described themselves as unaware that the invitation could be classified as bribery.
– It is serious, says Anders Liif, HR Director at the Prison and Probation Service.
Liif emphasises that suspicions of crimes committed in office should always be reported to the police.
– If there is a suspicion that someone has committed a crime in their employment, then it should be reported for prosecution, he says.
The consultant doctor, whose contract with the Prison and Probation Service has already ended, has been reported to the police by the authority.
Source: SVT Nyheter