Executed? Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? She's still breathing, isn't she?
Birgitte Bonnesen, the former CEO of Swedbank, has been socially executed. She was dismissed by Chairman Göran Persson without any explanation. She was shamed in the press. She was convicted of gross fraud by a court that failed to understand the very evidence presented before it.
On 21 April 2026, the Supreme Court acquitted her on every single count. The Court concluded that there was not a shred of evidence that she had ever intended to mislead anyone.
What does exist, however, are manipulative and lazy journalists, law enforcement all too willing to become an extension of the media frenzy, and a public service broadcaster that got every single thing wrong.
Executed. But also vindicated. This is a horror story with a remarkably rare ending.
In this second edition, the book has been updated with a new final chapter following the Supreme Court's acquittal.
