Staaf Bydén's family ties stop police officers from new special unit

The combined criminal economy in Sweden is estimated to have a turnover of almost one billion kroner a day. National Police Chief Petra Lundh has called eco-crime one of Sweden's biggest social problems.

With gang violence in a calmer phase, the justice system is now focusing more and more on the criminals' money.

At the Police Authority, the latest project is spelled Eken – The criminal economy unit. The group was launched after the summer and will consist of upwards of 200 employees, who are being redeployed from other roles in the National Operational Department, Noa.

Under acting manager Linda Staaf Bydén, around 15 employees are currently working on Eken's construction.

But several police officers tell DN that the manager's family connections have become a problem for Eken. The background is one of the authority's prestige cases: Operation Candy.

The effort against international drug trafficking and money laundering has resulted in crackdowns in a wide range of countries and around 30 people have been arrested. Three of them are related to Linda Staaf Bydén. One is suspected of particularly serious drug offences, serious money laundering and serious accounting offences. The other two are being investigated for serious money laundering offences. All deny wrongdoing.

The family ties entail a risk of conflict that has already caused Staaf Bydén to leave his position as Europol's head of Sweden. Now the same connections are made to it for Eken, DN learns.

Police employees who have worked with Candy cannot work for Eken under Linda Staaf Bydén's leadership, according to several informants. This is because they investigated her relatives.

- None of them can be relevant for Eken during the start-up, when it is perhaps most important to have the right skills there, says a source.

Candy is one of Sweden's largest criminal investigations. Around 50 people work there, many with extensive knowledge in complex financial investigations.

- These are extremely competent people, who have gathered valuable experience from working with Candy. They have a great insight into how the black and white economic worlds are connected. Therefore, this will be a significant break for Eken, says a source.

The police authority replies in writing that the construction of the unit is still ongoing.

"No decisions have been made about the exact number or which employees are affected," writes the authority.

For DN, however, several independent sources state that planned transfers to Eken have been paused due to the risk of frostbite.

According to the Police Authority, no "concrete fighting situation" has arisen in connection with Candy and Eken.

"Discussions and measures regarding potential bullying are aimed at preventing bullying situations. That work is ongoing and has also occurred in this context."

All employees of the National Operational Department can apply to Eken, according to the police. Employees must themselves pay attention to risks of injury. The manager must then make an assessment. If an employee believes that it is the manager himself who is rude, a higher manager should be contacted.

"Even circumstances that may be similar to Operation Candy will be handled in the prescribed manner," writes the Police Authority in its response.

However, it is not possible to make a general assessment of employees who worked with Candy. Each person must be assessed individually, according to the police.

Police DN talks to witnesses that the appointment of Staaf Bydén has already upset many internally from the start. They warn that trust in the authority is damaged when her relatives are suspected of the same type of crime that Eken is to investigate.

- If it was not possible to continue working at Europol, why is it going well at Eken? It will be very difficult to explain, says one of the informants.

DN has sought Linda Staaf Bydén, who declines to appear for an interview. The police chief himself is not suspected of any crimes. She has previously confirmed the family ties, but said that the people are not related to her.