Broken promises: ‘I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine’ doesn’t apply in Sweden

Last week I featured an incredible report by SVT TV in Sweden, on the international bribery involved when Saab subsidiary Gripen, BAE and the Czech Republic crafted a deal for the possible sale and eventual lease of fighter jets to the Czech government. (That was part 1 of a 2 part series on bribery and corruption with the 2nd part coming soon.)

But lets revisit the Swedish report again with something new in mind this time. First, the report reads like another episode of the Bourne series of movies with its vast network of shell companies, offshore accounts, Austrian Counts and money changing hands everywhere. In the end, the Czech government leased a number of Gripen planes from the Swedish government. However, the real winners and losers in this deal were far more complicated. Winners? That Austrian Count is a couple of million richer, Gripen and Saab got a chance to make some change, BAE (who orchestrated the deal through its shell companies and contacts) got a hefty sum and possibly dozens of Czech politicians were able to purchase vacation homes in their destination of choice. Losers? Well, the Czech citizenry, Gripen competitors and many other unknown lives were cheated because of this enormous fraud.

However, one surprising fallout to this episode (although no one has yet to connect the dots) is the loss of possibly thousands of jobs in Sweden. GM, Saab’s owner for the time being, is crashing and burning with no end yet in sight. Saab’s sales are dismal and only getting worse and GM, dealing with its own host of problems, is looking to dump Saab as quickly as possible. I mentioned that something new came up? Well, the New York Times wrote a long feature today on the Swedish government turning its back on Saab in this financial crisis. Yes, you read that right. The Socialist country so famous for its assistance of individuals and companies has said that it won’t bail out Saab leaving thousands of employees’ futures in limbo.

My question is this: How, when Saab, Gripen and BAE went through all of this trouble to orchestrate a very profitable deal for Sweden does the Swedish government turn its back now that the automaker is in trouble? Well, one unproven theory is that this is punishment in some sense for dragging the Swedes’ name through the mud in the Gripen investigation now blowing wide open. Or, perhaps the Swedish government, however unlikely it is, was unaware of the huge bribes going on with the Gripen deal and has decided to let Saab suffer because of it. The third possibility is that perhaps, as the NY Times suggests, this is just the Conservative party, now in power, flexing its muscles in order to change precedence. Whatever the case, the waters are muddy and full of piranhas of all stripes.