Secret deal: The former SCA chairman was allowed to keep the hunting paradise after the scandal

Every year, around 10,000 people hunt on the forest company SCA's land.

That one of them is the former chairman of the board, Sverker Martin-Löf, is not surprising. 

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Death threats and espionage during the change of power in the Handelsbanken sphere

But Assignment review can now reveal that Sverker Martin-Löf has retained the exclusive right to hunt on one of SCA's most historic hunting grounds.

"Final hunt for his part"

In the autumn of 2014, the SCA scandal erupts when Svenska Dagbladet reveals how Sverker Martin-Löf, among other things, used the Handelsbanken sphere's private flights for expensive hunting trips.

In the spring of 2015, he will leave all his board positions.

He then officially gives back the keys to the property Källberget, which he has hosted for many years.

Källberget is one of SCA's finest hunting grounds, dating from the 18th century and renovated for several millions. 

What happened to Källberget after Sverker Martin-Löf and SCA agreed that he would not be there again, in 2015? 

- The press release was interpreted very clearly that it was the final hunt for him on Källberget, says Andreas Cervenka, former reporter at Svenska Dagbladet, who was involved in revealing the hunting trips.

Lease agreements via limited companies

But Assignment review has taken part in a lease agreement from 2020 with Sverker Martin-Löfs signature - where he gets back his hunting paradise.

However, it is not the former chairman himself who leases the land and the properties, but a limited company that is controlled by himself. 

According to Sverker Martin-Löf, he was told during a meeting in the autumn of 2015 by Handelsbanken's new Chairman of the Board, Pär Boman, that he would be allowed to continue hunting on SCA's land on the same terms as everyone else. 

During this period, Boman had promised major cleaning in the Handelsbanken sphere and wanted to do away with the old culture.

- I recognize that we have had a meeting.

Towards the end, he asked if I had anything against him hunting on SCA and then I replied that I do not mind that he hunts on SCA's land, provided that he turns to the hunting organization that exists at SCA and of course pays what you have to pay for the hunt he is offered, says Pär Boman. 

The Swedish Tax Agency: Should have been terminated

But Sverker Martin-Löf's hunt on Källberget has taken place on unique terms.

An audit from the Swedish Tax Agency from 2019 shows that SCA has not had a single representation hunt on Källberget since it was renovated with a budget of around SEK 7 million in 2002. 

The Swedish Tax Agency states that Sverker Martin-Löf and his family had an "unrestricted right of disposal" on Källberget for a small fee and that the agreement should have been terminated directly by SCA when it was clear that no representation hunt was conducted on the land. 

Sverker Martin-Löf himself sees nothing strange with the new lease.

- I have damn well worked for 42 years and built that company from a small local Norrland company to a global company.

An official who does this without earning much money compared to many other companies obviously thinks that it has been a good effort.

It is no wonder if I can then hunt privately on some of their land, he says.

SCA: "A private person who hunts"

Nor does SCA's communications manager Björn Lyngfelt think that the new agreement with Sverker Martin-Löf is remarkable. 

- In this case, it is a private person who hunts on SCA's land on basically the same terms as other thousands of private individuals hunt on SCA's land, he says.

Why did Sverker Martin-Löf get back Källberget - which was renovated for several million - when he would then be a private hunter? 

- Yes, is that unreasonable? 

What do you think? 

- Of course he knows the land and we have not seen any reason to rent to anyone other than the one who knows the land and who obviously thrives there, says Björn Lyngfelt. 

Sverker Martin-Löf tells Assignment Review that he used the business jet to handle all board assignments and have time to read paperwork. 

With regard to Källberget, he states that it did not go as planned because the primitive standard made the hunting farm unsuitable for SCA's representative hunting.

Therefore, he leased the farm privately instead at market price and opened for SCA to also use the land.

See the full review in the series "The Bank and the Brotherhood" - the first two episodes are already available on SVT Play.