Paula Save, the administrator appointed by the court in the insolvency proceedings surrounding the Sweden Yachts Group, has already wanted to complete her investigations twice. She has had to apply for delays twice - because the dimensions of the case are apparently larger than initially suspected, because the embezzlement of customer funds goes back further, and because the former shipyard boss Mattias Rutgersson only provided the necessary documents under pressure.
Nothing to get for creditors
As soon as the proceedings were opened, it was clear that there was not much to be gained from the boat builder, which was active in the high-price segment of the yacht market and had decades of established brands: Malö, Sweden Yachts, Regina af Vindö and CR Yachts.
However, Paula Save's first cash check revealed that outstanding receivables totalling 4.6 million euros were offset by assets of just 11.95 euros. The Sweden Yachts Group was blatantly over-indebted and had probably been insolvent for some time.
Fraudulent misrepresentation
Alarmed by a buyer from Germany who had been systematically and fraudulently deceived for months, YACHT was the first magazine to report on the case in mid-March.
During the investigations, it became apparent that Mattias Rutgersson was trying to conceal the financial difficulties by misappropriating advance payments from several customers in order to settle outstanding debts. As the Swedish sailing magazine "Praktisk Batagande" reported in its online edition last Friday, this not only appears to have been confirmed in the insolvency proceedings; there are also new indications that the fraud was far more extensive.
When asked by author Joakim Hermansson, one of our partners in the European Yacht of the Year competition, Paula Save kept a low profile. "I don't want to pre-empt the report," she said on the phone. However, Hermansson was able to gather further evidence in the former company's environment that the insolvency was apparently deliberate.
"Machines and tools have disappeared"
In contrast to the insolvency administrator, the Sweden Yachts Group's environment has been "more forthcoming", writes Hermannson. And further:
"The manager of one wholesaler, for example, tells us that the former managing director's company had to pay for all purchases in advance for as long as he can remember. In the end, the payments even came directly from the boat buyers, which could be a sign that the Sweden Yachts Group's cash flow was not working satisfactorily and the customers feared that the money would otherwise not reach the right place." This is in line with information from YACHT, which was confirmed by several bruised owners.
Former employees of Mattias Rutgersson also reported to the Swedish sailing magazine about "late wage payments, missing materials and general disorganisation". There are also as yet unverified indications that "shortly before the bankruptcy, machines and tools inexplicably disappeared" from the ailing company.
The victims include not only yacht buyers who, trusting in the proverbial quality and reliability of the boat builders from the island of Orust, made advance payments without the respective stages of production having been completed. The Swedish state is also a creditor: Rutgersson is owed more than half a million euros by the public sector for the loss of wages and taxes withheld by the county council alone.
New company was planned
And the bankrupt apparently wanted to carry on. As Joakim Hermansson from "Praktisk Batagande" found out, Rutgersson joined a new company in February, just three days before the bankruptcy, which he wanted to register in the commercial register as "Orust Boatyard". He was to act as CEO and his wife was to become a member of the board. Company headquarters: the former address of the Sweden Yachts Group.
What is astonishing about the case is that Rutgersson was able to maintain his machinations over a long period of time, even though he repeatedly came into conflict with the law and the supervisory authorities. "The Swedish Companies Registration Office did not raise the alarm, even though there were no correct annual accounts for several years," writes Hermansson.
The court should actually have banned him from doing business for three years. "In February 2023, the Swedish Economic Crime Authority sentenced the former managing director to a suspended sentence and a fine of 80 days for accounting offences at another company in 2020." The judgement shows that he appeared on the criminal record several times at the time and that he accepted a suspended sentence for an accounting offence in 2018.
However, Rutgersson did not let this stop him. It is quite possible that he is now facing much more drastic consequences. Paula Save's report is scheduled for 4 October; it promises to be revealing.
Malö and Sweden Yachts to be built further
While the Sweden Yachts Group is being wound up by Mattias Rutgersson, the owner of the shipyard halls and the Malö and Sweden Yachts brands, the Elgudden Group, has announced that it will continue to operate.
Initially, the partially completed hulls, which originate from the insolvency, are to be completed in Kungsviken. Martin Hallgren Marine AB in Ellös is responsible for this. However, YACHT has not yet received any information about the financial strength of the shareholders or their willingness to invest.
