In 1997, Swedish financier Joachim Posener was identified as the mastermind of the Trustor affair—Sweden’s biggest corporate financial crime to date.
A former lawyer and tax adviser, Posener was accused of illegally transferring and draining millions from the investment firm Trustor AB. Though a warrant was issued for his arrest, he went into hiding and successfully evaded the police.
Now, nearly three decades later, Posener is opening up about his alleged involvement in the new Netflix documentary Inside the Trustor Scandal.
Here’s everything we know about Joachim Posener and the Trustor affair.
Who Is Joachim Posener?
Joachim Ralph Posener was born on January 17, 1964, in Lidingö, Stockholm County, Sweden. He initially began his career as a lawyer, but pivoted to finance in the 1980s, working as a tax adviser. Involved in both the Swedish and Nordic financial markets, he assisted corporations in finding ways to structure financial deals and avoid capital gains taxes.
In the early 1990s, however, Posener was arrested in Denmark and convicted of financial crimes and embezzlement for plundering Danish corporate assets linked to the Thul & Co. group. He was sentenced to six years in prison, though he only served part of his sentence.
Not long after he was released from Sweden’s Asptuna Prison, however, the ex-con soon became entangled in another financial scandal.
What Was Joachim Posener Accused Of?
In 1997, Posener was accused of being the mastermind behind the Trustor affair, also known as Trustorhärvan, which involved the illegal takeover of the Swedish investment firm Trustor AB. That May, British businessman Lord Moyne acquired a controlling 52 percent majority stake in the company, with Posener, his cousin Thomas Jisander, and fellow financier Peter Mattson orchestrating the transaction.
Led by Posener, the men used Trustor AB’s own capital to finance the purchase, illegally siphoning 600 million Swedish kronor (SEK)—the current equivalent to $62,841,120 USD. However, Posener kept his involvement quiet, with authorities initially focusing their investigation on Moyne, Jisander, and Mattson. It was through Jisander that police made the connection to Posener, finding his journal in an office in London, which detailed plans to orchestrate a financial raid. He presumably wrote it while still in prison.
Was Joachim Posener Ever Convicted?
After being identified as the main culprit, a warrant was issued for Posener’s arrest in November, but he had already fled the country. Refusing to return to Sweden, the financier remained a fugitive for several years, hiding out in countries such as Spain and Argentina. Since Posener avoided capture and was never formally charged, his cousin, Jisander, was convicted of embezzlement instead.
In 2004, Posener reemerged to appear on the Swedish talk show 45 Minuter, in which he protested his innocence, but this soon unleashed more scrutiny. The then-bankrupt financier was accused of aggravated dishonesty against creditors after it came to light that he had been paid 500 million SEK to participate in the interview. However, these suspicions were later dropped.
In 2007, the statute of limitations on the Trustor affair allegations expired. Posener settled a civil dispute with Trustor AB, paying the firm 1.5 million SEK without admitting guilt.
Where Is Joachim Posener Today?
Now 62, Posener currently resides in France. In February 2026, he was arrested on suspicion of filming outside Sweden’s Norrtälje Prison without permission and charged with unlawful depiction of protected objects.
The incident is believed to be related to his participation in the new Netflix documentary Inside the Trustor Scandal.
How to Watch Inside the Trustor Scandal
Revisiting the largest financial crime in Swedish history, Inside the Trustor Scandal provides fresh insight, featuring a rare interview with Posener himself.
“For two years, I have met Joachim Posener under fairly secret circumstances and heard his version of the story,” director Karin af Klintberg said in a press release. “The Trustor affair has been analyzed for decades. It has been the subject of books, TV series, and countless newspaper headlines. But the most requested interview has been missing until now.”
The documentary is now streaming on Netflix.
Catherine Caruso joined the Biography.com staff in August 2024, having previously worked as a freelance journalist for several years. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she studied English literature. When she’s not working on a new story, you can find her reading, hitting the gym, or watching too much TV.
