Approximately 4,000 gang criminals use the Swedish Social Insurance Agency’s benefits as a white basic income – an economic lifeline that continues to flow even when criminal profits falter. Over time, at least 3.6 billion Swedish kronor have been paid out to individuals with ties to organized crime, according to a new agency report.

The new report, developed as part of the agency’s joint initiative against organized crime, shows that about 4,000 individuals within the police-mapped gang environment receive their basic support through disability benefits, sick pay, or labor market support.

– It once again confirms that gang criminals use the social insurance as a basic income and to create a facade of legitimate income, says Nils Öberg, Director-General of the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, in a comment to TV4.

On average, this amounts to 1.5 million kronor per person in disability benefits, 900,000 kronor in sick pay, or 600,000 kronor in labor market support, according to the report. In total, this corresponds to 3.6 billion kronor in payments over the period examined in the report.

Sub-analysis 2 shows that these benefits serve as both a basic income and a white facade, something that