Former Starbreeze CFO convicted for insider trading

Back in 2018, Starbreeze began going through some serious financial troubles, facing insolvency, executive resignations and to add additional fuel to the fire, one person was arrested under suspicion of insider trading. Now after a lengthy wait, former Starbreeze CFO, Sebastian Ahlskog, has been convicted.

According to the Swedish Economic Crime Authority, Ahlskog sold shares in the company prior to the announcement of a corporate restructuring, using privileged inside information to sell shares before public announcements were made, which would have hurt share value. Bo Andersson, former CEO of Starbreeze had also sold shares but was apparently forced into doing so and as a result, he was cleared of suspicion last year.

As reported by GI.biz, authorities have fined Ahlskog a total of SEK 40,000, which roughly converts to $4,142. Aside from that though, the ECO seized over $72,000 worth of assets, which were gained through insider trading.

Currently, Starbreeze is still operating under new leadership and while the publisher hasn't returned to profitability yet, it is doubling down on Payday 2 updates and looking to bounce back with Payday 3 within the next few years.

KitGuru Says: Starbreeze has been on a bit of a roller-coaster in the last five years. Payday 2 was a huge success but things seemed to take a swift downturn during development of Overkill's The Walking Dead. Hopefully now that restructuring has taken place, things can return to normal.

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