Former Saab Officials Charged in Sweden
19 Febbraio 2016 - 6:30PM
Dow Jones News
STOCKHOLM—Five people in the former management of bankrupt
Swedish auto maker Saab Automobile AB are being prosecuted for a
bookkeeping offense, Sweden's Economic Crimes Bureau said
Friday.
The chief prosecutor at the bureau, Olof Sahlgren, said three
members of the previous Saab Automobile board and two former senior
executives are being prosecuted for gross obstruction of tax
inspection, an offense which carries a punishment of up to four
years in prison. Those charged were former Chairman Victor Muller;
former Chief Executive Jan-Ake Jonsson, head lawyer Kristina Geers,
and executives Robert Schuyt and Rosmarie Soderbom.
The five former board members and executives are accused of
having booked two payments totaling around 30 million Swedish
kronor ($3.85 million) in the company's accounts through two false
invoices issued to a Cypriot company, the chief prosecutor
said.
Per E. Samuelsson, legal counsel of Ms. Geers, said his client
denies the charges against her. Legal representatives of the other
defendants could not be immediately reached for a comment. All the
defendants deny the charges, according to the Economic Crimes
Bureau.
The Economic Crimes Bureau said the alleged crime was committed
in 2011 as Saab Automobile was seeking investors to pay off debts
to suppliers and restart production at its Trollhattan plant. The
prosecution is part of a wider investigation into Saab's operations
before its downfall.
Initially in September Mr. Jonsson and Ms. Geers were charged by
the Economic Crimes Bureau with entering into a fake wholesale
agreement aimed at creating a paper trail to justify payments
totaling roughly 30 million Swedish kronor. Friday's charges
against the five are part of that investigation. Both Mr. Jonsson
and Ms. Geers denied the charges in September, according to court
documents.
Saab's struggles began in the fall of 2009 in the midst of the
global financial crisis. GM sold Saab to Dutch sports-car maker
Spyker in 2010. Saab continued to fight for survival but finally
filed for bankruptcy in December of 2011.
Write to Christina Zander at christina.zander@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 19, 2016 12:15 ET (17:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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