A company called Steget Vidare/Klivet Vidare AB, based in Mölndal, earned 72,441 kronor (about $8,441 USD) per day, courtesy of the Swedish taxpayers.
This spring Expressen launched a journalistic investigation into the affairs of private companies that leased out apartments to refugees in Mölndal, as Mölndal and Malmö are the two municipalities that accept the biggest number of child refugees. The investigation revealed that Caremore Migration AB was the priciest company, earning 68,850 kronor ($8,023 USD) per one-room apartment per month.
The cost also included the price of child-minding the refugees two or three times a week. The bills were paid by the Swedish Migration Agency.
The company management claimed that the job requires a sizeable staff. The profits of Caremore Migration, owned by billionaire Rickard Weber, 51, increased by 338% in just one year, from 1.9 million kronor ($221,410 USD) in 2013 to 8.5 million kronor ($990,519 USD) in 2014.
Despite the exorbitant prices, the contract with the company was renewed.
Marie Östh Karlsson, a representative of Mölndal authorities, was outraged by the Caremore profiteering.
"It is regrettable that they're 'milking' money this way, but we simply didn't have an alternative way to provide housing for all those children," she said.
A company called Steget Vidare rented out one-room apartments for 46,500 kronor per month, with the company profits increasing by 63% in 2014.
Nubar Kino, one of the company owners, had this to say:
"Our company is doing quite well, but I can’t discuss it all by phone, it is a very serious issue…"
You rent apartments for 3,000 kronor per month and then lease them out for 46,500 kronor per month. Could this be the secret of your tremendous profits?
"No, of course not."
Where do these profits come from then?
"It’s because of our business model, the way we operate, our company structure… and we profit because we have full employment."
He also remarked that there are certain threats to his profits, voicing concerns that the Sweden Democrats might "win the elections tomorrow and shut everything down."
What can you tell the taxpayers regarding your profits of 70,000 kronor per day?
"I have nothing to say. I can only state that we operate based on the prices we have, and that we have full employment. Things could’ve been different."
A company called Baggium Vård & Behandling AB, which is a part of the Humana Koncernen, also dramatically increased its profits. In Kållered alone and in the vicinity of the city of Göteborghar, the company secured lodgings for about 100 children, earning 46.1 million kronor ($5,360,458 USD) last year.
Birgitta Korpe, a refugee coordinator in Mölndal, describes the situation as critical for the entire municipality.
"It is a real crisis," she said. "We've never had so many new arrivals, and we need more lodgings for all these children and youths that we've been offered."
