Reported by Marie Preisler

Danish authorities have introduced tighter legislation and lawsuits to stop cooperation between gangs and lawyers in cases of money laundering and social dumping.

The TV documentary The Black Swan sent shockwaves through Denmark in early 2024 with revelations that criminal gangs and corporate lawyers are collaborating to defraud the state of millions, launder money and exploit foreign labour in violation of rules designed to prevent social dumping.

In the months following the documentary’s release, the Danish government and parliament have tightened legislation in several areas. Multiple lawsuits against the main figures in the case have been initiated or are already on their way to the courts. 

Corporate lawyer Amira Smajic played a main role in the scandal exposed by The Black Swan and was subsequently charged with fraud, forgery and theft. She was sentenced to three months in prison for fraud but pleaded not guilty and appealed the verdict. 

A new trial against Amira Smajic includes ten other alleged criminal offences, and it was scheduled to start on 12 September 2024. However, she reported being ill a few days before and the trial was delayed, according to several Danish media.

90 fled and Indian nationals charged

Danish controls on social dumping have also been significantly tightened. In 2023, the Danish Working Environment Authority, the Tax Agency and the police began a tight collaboration to secure proper conditions in the labour market, and the results were presented in September 2024:

Inspections were carried out at nearly 8,000 Danish and foreign companies, resulting in 4,550 working environment notices. The Working Environment Authority has noted that 90 people have fled their workplaces. 

The Tax Agency carried out more than 3,000 tax and duty inspections aimed at companies and people in sectors with the highest risk of rule violations. It resulted in tax collections worth half a million kroner (€67,000). That is an increase of 60 per cent on last year.

This joint authority drive against social dumping has also led to collaboration with Poland and the European Labour Authority (ELA) with the aim of coordinating inspections of Polish companies in Denmark. 

A Polish temporary employment agency that posted Indian workers to a construction site in Denmark was inspected in February 2024, and 33 Indian workers were charged with violating immigration laws because they did not have the required work permits for operating in Denmark.

Read full report: http://www.nordiclabourjournal.org/i-fokus/in-focus-2024/theme-workplace-crime/article.2024-09-13.8080780791