Swedish Court Sentences Former Swedbank CEO to 15 Months in Prison

A Swedish court has sentenced Birgitte Bonnesen this week, the former CEO of Swedbank, to 15 months in prison after finding her guilty of "gross swindling." This verdict by the Svea Court of Appeal overturns a district court ruling from 2023, which had acquitted Bonnesen of charges related to a major money laundering scandal.

The case centers around allegations from 2019 when Swedish public service broadcaster SVT reported that Swedbank had channeled at least 40 billion kronor (equivalent to about $4.4 billion at the time) through suspicious and high-risk transactions to Baltic countries, primarily Estonia. The scandal caused a significant drop in the bank's share price, leading to Bonnesen's dismissal. In response to the scandal, Sweden's financial regulator fined the bank four billion kronor and issued a stern warning to improve its anti-money laundering practices.

Prosecutors charged Bonnesen with "intentionally or by aggravated negligence" providing false or misleading information about the measures Swedbank had taken to detect and prevent money laundering. The court found that Bonnesen had disseminated misleading statements in interviews with Svenska Dagbladet and the Swedish news agency TT in connection with the release of the bank's third quarterly report for 2018. These statements falsely suggested that there were no suspicious money laundering links in the bank's operations in Estonia.

The court's ruling noted that Bonnesen's statements were likely to affect financial assessments of Swedbank and cause financial harm. Additionally, prosecutors had accused her of revealing insider information by informing the bank's major owners about an investigative documentary before its release. However, the appeals court concluded that this information was not specific enough to be classified as insider information.