The Left Party’s Ahmed Abas Omar looks set to take a seat in Borlänge’s municipal council after receiving hundreds of personal votes (personkryss) in the election. At the same time, he appears alongside national Somali MP Mohamed Abdukardir Ali in the police investigation into suspected election fraud. Omar also has a background as chairman of the scandal-ridden association Folkets Hus Västra Borlänge, which received half a million kronor in grants despite widespread shortcomings—and has previously been convicted of four drug offenses.
Samnytt has reported extensively on 30-year-old Mohamed Abdukardir Ali who leapfrogged V-top candidate Kajsa Fredholm through personal votes and secured a seat in Parliament from Dalarna’s electoral district.
Shortly after the astonishing number of personal votes became public, the Swedish public learned that an ongoing investigation into election fraud was underway, and that Ali was under police surveillance during the election.
But he isn’t the only one involved in that investigation; Ahmed Abas Omar, 34, also Somali, is similarly implicated. With 28 out of 29 election districts tallied in Borlänge municipality, he looks set to win a seat in the council—as he currently has 343 personal votes—14.2 percent of the party’s votes.
According to media outlets, he and Ali appear in photos together in the police investigation, including standing by ATMs.
READ MORE: Clan voting? The Left Party’s unknown national Somali is being investigated for election fraud
Led scandal-ridden association with Social Democrats
We at Samnytt have previously reported on the scandalous association Folkets Hus Västra Borlänge—described as one of the biggest grant scandals in the municipality’s history.
The association was formed by merging previous groups and was presented as a new Folkets Hus (community center) in the marginalized area of Tjärna Ängar.
Several top Social Democratic (S) politicians held leading roles in the organization, including Charlotte Oster (S), Mohamed Gure (S), and Christian Kaddik (S). Gure was also previously Minister of Labor and Infrastructure in the state government of Galmdug in Somalia.
However, the chairman of the association was Ahmed Abas Omar—now an elected Left Party (V) politician under police investigation for election fraud.
In autumn 2019, the association applied for a total of 1.8 million kronor in grants from the municipality. The then S-led social committee approved one million kronor, of which about 525 thousand was paid out.
READ MORE: How the S-association defrauded the municipality of half a million
Extensive record keeping deficiencies
Reviews of the association’s application revealed extensive errors, including the mixing up of several documents with another association.
Deficiencies in Folkets Hus Västra Borlänge’s reporting to the municipality:
- the association was not registered with the Swedish Tax Agency,
- the organizational number belonged to another association,
- another association’s bylaws were submitted,
- the annual activity report came from a different association,
- the application was submitted after the deadline,
- no verified member register existed,
- information about the seat and other basic association details was incomplete.
Despite these serious shortcomings, parts of the application were approved and money was paid out to the association.
The money was gone
Despite the scandal-ridden association’s failings, Borlänge municipality never managed to recover the approximately 525,000 kronor that had already been paid out.
The reason was said to be the municipality’s rules for association grants lacked clear requirements for repayment. When the issue was finally addressed, it was found that the municipality had no legal support for recovering the money.
Omar (V) multiply convicted
In addition to participating in defrauding Borlänge municipality of half a million kronor, Omar has also been convicted on four occasions—for drug offenses. The legal database Verifiera was the first to report this.
In March 2012, he was convicted of minor drug offense after a urine test showed traces of amphetamines and cannabis. The penalty was 30 day fines.
Later that same year, he was convicted again—this time for drug offense of normal degree—after traveling to Copenhagen and purchasing 143.8 grams of cannabis resin, which was then brought into Sweden. The sentence was probation and 40 hours of community service.
In 2013, he was convicted again for minor drug offense. That time, it concerned 45.6 grams of dried khat found in an apartment in Borlänge. The penalty was day fines.
The fourth and final conviction came in 2016. Then, a urine sample revealed more than one microgram of THC acid per milliliter of urine. The sentence was 30 day fines for minor drug offense.
Now sits on the municipal council
Despite previous scandals involving the association Folkets Hus Västra Borlänge and his four drug convictions, the Left Party in Borlänge chose to let him represent them as number six on the ballot.
He now takes a seat in the council—while an investigation into suspected election fraud is being led by the national anti-corruption unit. The police’s national operations department has meanwhile taken over the investigation from the Bergslagen police region.
Both Mohamed Abdukardir Ali and Ahmed Abas Omar thus appear in the investigation and the two V politicians have taken a break from political work.
READ MORE: Unknown unemployed Mohamed ousts V’s top MP—denied citizenship due to large debts