In 2019, the Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported that suspicious funds totaling at least 40 billion kronor (about four billion euros) passed through Swedbank accounts in the Baltic countries.
The disclosure of this information led to a sharp decline in the bank's stock prices and the resignation of Swedbank's CEO Birgitta Bonnesen.
A year later, the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority fined the bank four billion kronor (360 million euros) and required it to comply with anti-money laundering laws.
In January 2022, Bonnesen was charged with aggravated fraud.
According to the prosecution, Bonnesen "knowingly or through gross negligence" provided false information about the measures taken by the bank to prevent, detect, and combat money laundering, as well as its ability to inform authorities about such suspicions.
The prosecution also accused Bonnesen of disclosing insider information in connection with notifying the bank's largest shareholders about the upcoming release of an SVT documentary.
Today, the Supreme Court of Sweden acquitted former Swedbank CEO Birgitta Bonnesen of fraud charges, overturning a lower court's guilty verdict that sentenced her to 15 months in prison, reports BNS.
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