Synopsis

Ivar Kreuger earned the nickname “Savior of Europe” by lending European governments nearly $400 million after World War I to rebuild their shattered economies. After Kreuger’s suicide in 1932, $115 million of purported assets could not be located. Auditors estimated that Kreuger’s companies’ true earnings for 1918 through 1932 were approximately $40 million rather than the $316 million originally reported.

Discussion Questions

1. Why did Swedish Match Company need to raise large sums of money?
2. How was Swedish Match Company able to pay interest and dividends far in excess of the company’s actual profits?
3. Describe at least one fraudulent act Ivar Kreuger used to overstate Swedish Match Company’s reported assets.
4. How did Kreuger conceal Swedish Match Company’s true financial condition from the company’s directors and underwriters?
5. What role did auditors play in the discovery of Kreuger’s fraud?

Additional Resources

Ivar Kreuger. In this NPR radio interview, historian Chris McKenna describes Ivar Kreuger’s accounting fraud (3:05 minutes).