Sveriges Radio reports that all three defendants were found not guilty.
Their extensive coverage of the case can be found here.
Some of the things discussed:
- Geers signed a contract using the signature of Saab Parts’ CEO. The CEO later said he had no recollection of giving his permission, but recanted when Geers produced an e-mail asking for said permission
- Saab received payment in advance for a dealership deal struck in Ukraine. The prosecutor asked if Antonov orchestrated this payout. (never mind that Riksgälden at the time had approved Antonov)
- Did the management team mislead suppliers, creditors and the public by not admitting how bad the situation was?
- The prosecutor spent considerable time on dwelling on the previous court case, rehashing the same arguments that won him no favors the last round. Surely an odd thing to do, but some people cannot help themselves I suppose.
I have been tempted to provide a full translation of Victor Jensen’s superb reporting, but I have unfortunately not have had the time. In addition, the prosecutor comes off looking like a complete ass, so I feared the SR reporting may have been biased. E.g. at one point Muller is quoted as saying (addressing the prosecutor) “if you are coming after me, you better be prepared!” (said in disgust several days into the prosecutor’s expensive fishing trip). The prosecutor then wanted to know if Victor was threatening him…
I have in the past hinted that the prosecutor is not playing with a full deck of cards. I stand by my original assessment. At the time I thought the prosecutor wanted a win in a high profile case so he would get promoted into a political career of sorts. I now believe that a win is not really required for that to happen. Good things happen to incompetent men.
On a more positive note, Victor Muller remarked, on the last day of the trial, that former employees had gathered in the Saab museum for an evening meal with both Jan-Åke and Victor invited. He was grateful for the show of support and hinted that it is unusual for former employees to do such things on the trail of a bankruptcy.
LOL “Good things happen to incompetent men.” — so true.
But, in this case, I am just happy that bad things did not happen to good, competent men.
They were more competent then you could think off. Where does your idea come from that these three persons were incompetent?
You misunderstood my post. I was saying the three were “good, competent men” and I was happy with the outcome. The incompetent man was the prosecutor.
I must say that now, coming to SU, I feel like I am kind of going to the graveyard to visit the SAAB tombstone. I have submitted a couple of things to be published concerning interesting Saabs either for sale or just for fun, which I think would make this site less depressing to visit. But those have not been published. Why not?
Exactly. There’s several good Saab related sites, but only this one seems to be dead. Every other keep posting things we wanna see.
I really liked SU in the past, but nowadays it’s just nothing here, very badly managed.
With the SAAB affair,it appears that the performance of the Swedish bureaucracy has been consistent from start to finish.
Political favors done. VM only competent in filling his coffers.
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2017/04/its-official-buick-is-the-new-saab/
That is perfect news for all three who have done so much for Saab and even for Sweden. That they now might continue there lives without the burden of eventually been hit by another court case.
The sixth gear may perhaps offer improved fuel economy, but I miss my old 9000 where a gear change was a rare event. Its 2.3T engine could manage pulling the fifth gear from around 40 kph while keeping up pace with lesser cars (before the turbo kicks in and leaves all others in the dust).
My wife’s 2012 9-3 1.9 TTiD has plenty of torque, but I change gears so often I nearly end up suffering from RSI. I now realize why people keep asking me why I didn’t spring for an automatic…
Interesting comment about the 9000 Rune. My 9-5 is rated at 260 hp. A 9000 I owned was rated 40 or 50 hp below that but was noticeably quicker. I suppose the weight of new systems and what seems to be tamer engine management (probably to cure the extreme torque steer exhibited by the most powerful 9000 turbos) are at ;east partly responsible, but I am surprised that that much more horsepower doesn’t give my 9-5 some of the edge of that 9000.
Entirely agree with Angelo and 3Cyl. The 9-5 is a great car. My 2001 is closing in n 300,000kms but still runs beautifully, plus it’s a timeless design that has aged gracefully.
I must be lucky. On the speedometer in my 9-5 2007 it reads less than 140,000 kms. I confirm; runs beautifully, especially on long tours.