A total of 18 people – 10 ICA traders and their relatives – have been charged with insider trading in connection with ICA being delisted from the stock exchange in autumn 2021.
A publicized scene in the case unfolded at an annual ICA conference where several of the parties are said to have bought large amounts of shares in the middle of the night.
They are said to have then deleted SMS conversations in which the share purchases were discussed when they became aware that they were suspected of insider trading.
Now 16 of the 18 defendants are sentenced. Nine people are convicted of serious insider crimes and the rest for insider crimes of the normal degree. A person is also convicted of unauthorized disclosure of insider information.
The penalties for three of the defendants have been determined to be imprisonment, with a maximum of three years and two months. Others who are convicted receive a suspended sentence with either community service or a fine.
The call to his banker
In a conversation from September 15, 2021, which the prosecutor played in court, a 67-year-old Ica trader tells his banker that he wants him to buy 5,000 Ica shares for two million kroner.
– Buy as much as you can. And then sell for 25 million, he says.
– I hear rumours. I don’t know if the rumors are credible, but I think so, adds the man in the conversation.
The banker advised him not to buy more shares, as it could be interpreted as insider trading. The trader went ahead anyway and the bank reported him to the Financial Supervisory Authority. In total, the man earned over SEK 13 million from the deals.
All defendants deny wrongdoing.
For two of the defendants, business bans have been announced. In addition to the penalty, the convicts must pay back the share profits they have made, which in total is about SEK 16 million. The majority of the convicted must also fully or partially cover their own defense costs in the case, the Stockholm District Court announces.