In 2018, the Jobskills service for employers was launched. They thus had the opportunity to apply for labor among the thousands of asylum seekers who registered their information in Jobskills.

But SVT was able to show that the service could also be used for refugee espionage, and the service was stopped by the Swedish Public Employment Service. After a legal investigation, Jobskills could be reopened, but with strong restrictions and warnings.

Last year, the Swedish Public Employment Service commissioned a law firm to investigate whether the authority had violated public access legislation by making the asylum seekers' information available to employers.

The answer was yes, but the question of personal responsibility was passed on to the State Liability Committee. Last year, the board chose to report the then top manager Erik Sandström to the prosecutor, who started a preliminary investigation into suspected misconduct and breach of confidentiality.

But there will be no prosecution. The preliminary investigation has been closed, which the prosecutor justifies in two ways:

  • Any misconduct would be so minor that it is not criminal.
  • The possible breach of the duty of confidentiality has become statute-barred.
The critique: "A management problem"

Erik Sandström writes to SVT that it is nice to be acquitted, but that he hoped that the prosecutor would have explicitly declared him innocent instead of just closing the investigation. (Full comment below.)

Sandström has been in contact with lawyer Conny Larsson, who has extensive experience of IT law and is critical of the Swedish Public Employment Service's handling of the case.

- Erik Sandström has not violated any instructions. This is a management problem, they have not been told what he can and cannot do.

- It seems that they wanted to find a scapegoat.

Neither the prosecutor Lucas Eriksson nor the Swedish Public Employment Service's current management want to give any further comments about the closed preliminary investigation.

In the autumn, Erik Sandström was bought out from the Swedish Public Employment Service, where he worked directly under the then director general Mikael Sjöberg, who left his position in December.