Swedish ex-finance minister and tycoon named suspects in bribery case

L E Lundbergforetagen AB (publ)

27/01/2017 20:52

STOCKHOLM, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Fredrik Lundberg, one of 
Sweden's most powerful tycoons, and former finance minister 
Anders Borg have been questioned by prosecutors as suspects in a 
bribery probe. 
    Forestry firm Holmen  HOLMb.ST , where Lundberg is chairman, 
said Lundberg was suspected of offering a bribe related to 
hunting events arranged by Holmen. Borg is suspected of taking a 
bribe at a hunt in 2014, the prosecutors' anti-corruption unit 
said, without giving further details.  
    Both men deny any wrongdoing and neither have been charged 
with any crimes.  
    "I suspect the hunt is connected to (Borg's) position as a 
member of the government," Alf Johansson, prosecutor at the 
Swedish Prosecution Authority's anti-corruption unit, told 
Reuters on Friday.  
    The prosecutor did not elaborate further on the specifics 
about the case. 
    Borg's lawyer Hans Strandberg denied that Borg's 
participation in the hunt would have constituted accepting a 
bribe because he was intending to pay for himself when he 
accepted the invitation and was out of office by the time the 
event happened. 
    Holmen said in a statement on Thursday night that Lundberg 
was being questioned as a suspect.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN1FG11A 
    The company's CEO Henrik Sjolund told Reuters on Friday that 
hunting events were customary for a company that owns a lot of 
forests and had been good for the company's networking and 
its brand for many years.   
    "If the prosecutor would draw another conclusion we will 
have to adapt to that in the future, but that is not where we 
are today," Sjolund told Reuters. 
    "We believe we have complied with the applicable rules, both 
us, Holmen, as well as Fredrik Lundberg," he said. 
    After inheriting his construction and property holding firm 
Lundbergforetagen  LUNDb.ST  from his father in the 1980s, 
Lundberg has shown steadily rising returns and steadily expanded 
his power in Swedish business.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N16H2EY 
    Lundbergforetagen is the biggest shareholder in Holmen and 
also Industrivarden  INDUa.ST , which has major stakes in 
Swedish blue chips such as telecommunications firm Ericsson, 
truck maker Volvo and lender Handelsbanken. 
    Lundberg said in a statement sent by Lundbergforetagen: "I 
am convinced that both Holmen and I have managed everything 
correctly and that no violations have occurred." 
    Borg's lawyer Strandberg said the invitation to Borg to 
attend the hunt was made in spring 2014 but his centre-right 
government lost an election and he attended the hunt in 
mid-October after having left his post as a minister. 
    "It has no connection whatsoever really to his finance 
minister post," Strandberg told Reuters. "He denies that he 
would have done anything wrong." 
    Reuters was unable to immediately determine what the law 
stipulates.     
    Borg was one of Europe's best known finance ministers. After 
serving in two consecutive centre-right governments between 2006 
and 2014 he entered the corporate sector. He is deputy chairman 
of investment company Kinnevik and became an adviser for 
Citigroup in 2015. 
 
 (Reporting by Daniel Dickson and Johan Ahlander; Editing by 
Alistair Scrutton and Alison Williams) 
 ((daniel.dickson@thomsonreuters.com; +46-)(0)(8-700 11 63; 
Reuters Messaging: 
daniel.dickson.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: SWEDEN CORRUPTION/