Syrian clan in Södertälje convicted of extensive welfare fraud

Seven individuals from a Syrian Södertälje family have been convicted in a major welfare fraud case by the Södertälje District Court. Six of the convicted individuals have been sentenced to prison, including a police officer, a lawyer, a pilot, and a bank employee. The Syrian clan is suspected of defrauding taxpayers of tens of millions of kronor over several years.

The Hanna family, subject to the verdict, originally hails from al-Qamishli in northern Syria. The Syrian family established themselves in Sweden during the 1980s.

In 2008, the then 65-year-old family patriarch became entitled to taxpayer-funded assistance following a stroke. His five children; Chadi, Firas, Ilham, Malek, and Ibtisam; were all employed as taxpayer-funded assistants. Eventually, Ibtisam’s husband, Peter Yohanoun, also a Syrian from Syria, became involved in the operation.

Suspicions arise

However, in 2019, Södertälje municipality began to suspect that something was amiss.

By this time, Chadi was working as a pilot for Norwegian based in Oslo, Firas as a police officer, Ilham as a bank employee at SEB, Malek as a well-profiled lawyer who had worked as a judge at Uppsala District Court, while Ibtisam worked as a pharmacist at the Apoteket. Despite their careers, they continued to receive substantial sums in assistance payments from the municipality.

Police officer Firas Hanna, lawyer Malek Hanna, pilot Chadi Hanna, and SEB employee Ilham Hanna.

The municipality reasoned that the five children could not possibly combine their full-time jobs with working as assistants to their father to the extent they reported to the municipality and the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. In some cases, they reported an extent of up to 60 percent of regular working hours.

In October 2019, the Syrian family was reported to the police on suspicion of severe fraud. An extensive investigation was initiated, where the activities of all involved parties were mapped out. Their mobile phone locations, social media posts, and their schedules with their regular employers were compared to the assistance reports submitted to the municipality.

The investigation concluded that the six Syrians were defrauding the assistance payments. They submitted invoices for assistance payments to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency every month, despite not working as assistants. Instead, it was primarily the children’s mother who cared for her husband. Consequently, she became involved in the investigation as she was suspected of promoting her children’s fraudulent activities.

In December last year, charges were brought against eight individuals; the father receiving assistance, his wife, the five children, and son-in-law Peter Yohanoun.

And this week, the verdict was announced. The mother in the family was sentenced to probation and fines for aiding and abetting severe welfare fraud. The remaining defendants were sentenced to prison for several severe welfare fraud offenses.

Ilham Hanna was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison. Chadi Hanna was sentenced to one and a half years in prison, Firas Hanna, Malek Hanna, and Ibtisam Hanna Yohanoun were sentenced to between two years and three months in prison, while Peter Yohanoun was sentenced to one and a half years in prison.

However, the father was acquitted by the court. The 81-year-old man was believed to have been unaware of his children’s activities.

Amount to be repaid

In addition to imprisonment, the Syrian clan was ordered to repay over 26 million kronor to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency.

Ilham Hanna: To repay 5,549,918 kronor
Chadi Hanna: To repay 5,356,775 kronor
Firas Hanna: To repay 5,067,771 kronor
Malek Hanna: To repay 3,996,213 kronor
Ibtisam Hanna Yohanoun: To repay 3,645,246 kronor
Peter Yohanoun: To repay 2,476,484 kronor