Sweden: Confidential Immigration Service data in the hands of Iranian agents – Manager also under investigation
Swedish Immigration Service employee leaked classified information to an Iranian spy and was fired after being warned by the Swedish Security Service, Säpo. Now, a senior executive of the service, who is associated with the employee in question, has been suspended and reported to the police.
The executive is suspected of illegally accessing files with sensitive data — a behavior described as "very serious."
New evidence has emerged regarding the leak of information to Iran by the Swedish Migration Agency.
The agency fired an employee in February 2025 after Säpo raised the alarm about his actions. At the time, however, it was not known what had happened. Earlier this year, TV4 Nyheterna revealed the background to the case and Säpo's surveillance operation.
Now, TV4 Nyheterna reveals that the police are investigating a senior executive at the Immigration Service. The executive is linked to the employee and is suspected of illegal access to information systems, as he allegedly carried out “a large number of unauthorized searches” of confidential files.
Immigration Service: "Very serious"
The Migration Agency has reported the manager to the police and a preliminary investigation is underway. The suspicions arose during an internal audit, after Säpo warned about the employee. In this context, the manager lost his security clearance and was immediately suspended.
"The preliminary investigation is ongoing. I will not provide any information at this stage, due to the course of the investigation and the confidentiality that governs it," said senior prosecutor Liselotte Nilsson, who is handling the case, without wanting to comment on the connection to the employee.
In internal documents, the Immigration Service describes the illegal access to the systems as "very serious."
“This behavior constitutes a serious breach of the obligation to respect legality, a lack of good judgment and disrespect for the agency’s rules for information management and the security of applicants. (…) Especially when it concerns an experienced manager holding a position of trust,” the agency says in the documents.
Secret meetings in shopping malls
The employee to whom the executive is linked had been under surveillance by Säpo for some time. Initially, investigators determined that the employee, of Iranian origin, had close contact with an Iranian intelligence officer who was stationed at the Iranian embassy in Stockholm under diplomatic cover.
According to Säpo, the officer in question carried out illegal espionage activity against individuals in Sweden, with a focus on spying against refugees.
According to Säpo's investigation, the employee and the spy exchanged messages on WhatsApp, spoke on the phone and met in person. According to the employee himself, the meetings took place at his workplace at the Migration Agency, at home and, every two weeks, at the Mall of Scandinavia shopping center in Solna or other shopping centers.
The meetings were reportedly about exchanging favors. The two men reportedly discussed, among other things, Kurds and regime critics. In one case, the employee allegedly revealed the name of an Immigration Service employee who was about to take up a position at the Swedish embassy in Iran.
Both also allegedly traveled to Iran, after the spy had helped the employee renew his Iranian passport.
Deportation for national security reasons
The spy was deemed a serious threat to Sweden's security and was deported. After his deportation, the employee allegedly came into contact with an Iranian agent.
Säpo's surveillance operation recorded thousands of contacts between them, during which the employee passed on information from the Migration Agency's secret files. This included, among other things, data on Iranians living in exile. The agent in question was later deported from Sweden.
In addition to "frequent contacts" with a foreign power, the employee allegedly, among other things, sent a photo of the inside of Iranian passports to the "senior leadership" of the criminal Bandidos motorcycle gang.
The employee also maintained contacts with regime supporters and other individuals associated with the Iranian embassy. According to the Säpo investigation, their platforms were a “showcase for activities of a foreign power that threaten security.”
The employee has denied the allegations and has disputed Säpo's information. The Immigration Service does not wish to comment on the manager.
"As this is an ongoing personnel case and the confidentiality of the preliminary investigation applies, the Immigration Service refrains from any comment," says Karin Andren, a spokeswoman for the service.
TV4 Nyheterna has attempted to contact the executive's lawyer for comment.
