Law professor says alleged Brotherhood-linked financial scandals in Sweden show organized pattern

Dr. Mohamed Mahmoud Mehran, Professor of Public International Law and a member of the American and European Societies of International Law, said the repeated financial scandals linked to the Brotherhood in Sweden, Turkey and elsewhere show a consistent pattern of debt exploitation for illicit financial gain. He said this pattern requires strict legal accountability at the national and international levels. His comments were given in a statement to Day VII.

Mehran described the disclosure that more than 1 billion kroner in tax funds allocated to education in Sweden had disappeared, through a network of schools linked to the group, as a scandal by any measure. He said the transfer of millions of kroner to Turkey, Malta and Egypt, the issuance of fake bills and a mass flight after investigations began indicated the existence of an organized network of money-laundering and financial fraud. These are his characterizations of the reported events, and the source does not present them as findings of a court.

He said the pattern was not new and had appeared in several states. He pointed to a scandal involving more than $1 billion in Gaza contributions in Turkey and to disagreements among elements of the group over how those funds should be distributed. He added that the group was exploiting religious slogans and humanitarian issues to raise funds, which were then used for purposes far from those stated. Money given for a stated purpose must be handled honestly (Proverbs 11:1).

From the perspective of international law, Mehran said, such acts would constitute organized financial crimes across borders. He cited the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, which criminalizes money-laundering and organized financial fraud across borders and obliges states to cooperate internationally against such crimes. He said the movement of suspicious funds through several states would require close cooperation among law enforcement agencies in Sweden, Egypt, Turkey and Malta to trace, recover and hold accountable those responsible.

Mehran also said the collective departure of officials immediately after investigations began showed awareness of the crime. In his view, such behavior indicated the perpetrators’ knowledge that their actions were illegal and their attempts to evade justice, which, he argued, reinforced criminal responsibility. He called on Swedish authorities to hold all those involved strictly and transparently accountable, to recover looted funds, to prosecute those responsible, to close all suspicious institutions, and to prevent the exploitation of the educational system for financial or ideological purposes.

He further called on European states to review the activities of the relevant financial community thoroughly. According to Mehran, what had been revealed in Sweden might be only part of a larger problem, and other European states could face similar scandals if institutions associated with the group were scrutinized. He said such scandals harm Muslim communities in Europe.

Mehran stressed that most Muslims in the West are law-abiding citizens and that the exploitation of religion by organized fraud groups distorts the image of Islam and Muslims. He said justice must be carried out without political or ideological considerations, and that the law stands above all. He maintained that exploiting religion for illicit enrichment is a crime that must be held firmly accountable.

Source: Read the original report (translated from Arabic)