Former Saab Board Members Hit With Forgery Charges

STOCKHOLM—Swedish prosecutors said Thursday that they have filed forgery charges against two former board members of Saab Automobile, the bankrupt car maker.

The board members, former chief executive Jan-Ake Jonsson and head lawyer Kristina Geers, are accused of entering into a fake wholesale agreement a few months before the car maker went bankrupt in 2011.

According to chief prosecutor Olof Sahlgren at the Economic Crimes Bureau in Gothenburg, who filed the indictment with a local court Wednesday, the allegedly fake agreement was aimed at creating a paper trail to justify payments totaling roughly 30 million Swedish kronor ($3.6 million).

Mr. Sahlgren said that although he has found evidence that Saab collected the money, he hasn't been able to trace its origin. "No one can say who made the payments," he told The Wall Street Journal.

Both Mr. Jonsson and Ms. Geers have denied the charges, according to court documents. Legal representatives for the pair couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

The indictment is part of a wider investigation into Saab's operations before its downfall.

Saab filed for bankruptcy in December 2011 after a desperate three-year fight for survival, which followed the decision by General Motors Co. to liquidate the company in the fall 2009.

Write to Christina Zander at [e-mail]

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 03, 2015 12:35 ET (16:35 GMT)

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