Mr. Adalberth via Cruchbase

The Manhattan District Attorney's office has dismissed sexual assault charges against Niklas Adalberth and Jens Saltin for allegedly sexually assaulting a 19-year-old girl at the W Hotel in Midtown. Both men work as executives for the Swedish startup Klarna, which has venture capital backing from powerful American investors, including Sequoia Capital, and a valuation rumored to be near $1 billion.

No official statement was released, but in Manhattan Criminal Court today, where both defendants appeared after an adjournment earlier this month, Assistant District Attorney David Smith said the following: "After conducting  a thorough investigation that included but was not limited to interviewing relevant witnesses, viewing surveillance video and other hotel records and speaking extensively with the complainant we have concluded that we cannot prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt."

Defense attorney Andrea Zellan, whose firm Branfman & Associates also represented Dominique Strauss-Kahn in a similar sexual assault case where charges were also dismissed, emailed the following statement to Betabeat regarding the case:

"We are obviously delighted that the District Attorney of New York County has agreed to dismiss all charges against our clients. We have maintained from the outset that this case was based on a single, false and entirely baseless allegation that was not corroborated by any forensic, scientific, video or other witness testimony. Simply put, these two men with impeccable backgrounds did nothing wrong, did not violate the law and should never have been arrested in the first place.

Now that the charges have been dismissed and the records sealed, Messrs. Adalberth and Saltin plan on returning to Sweden, back to the brilliant careers they were enjoying before this unfortunate episode began."

Both. Mr. Adalberth and Mr. Saltin, who were out on $10,000 bail, had taken a leave of absence during their legal trouble. But by email Klarna offered a similar statement of vindication:

"As we have been expecting all along, the accusations brought against our employees have now been proven entirely unfounded and all charges have been dismissed. Our employees did nothing wrong, did not break any law and should thus never have ended up in this very unfortunate situation. We now leave this incident behind us and welcome back our employees to their central roles within the company."

Mr. Adalberth, a former economics student, is Klarna’s COO and one of three co-founders. Mr. Saltin, a former Goldman Sachs intern, is Klarna’s vice president of sales in the Netherlands.

Mr. Adalberth via Crunchbase

The New York County District Attorney's Office just sent out an email regarding the pending case against two executives from Klarna, a Swedish e-commerce payments startup with $166 million in venture capital financing from prominent American investors. This past Saturday, Klarna cofounder and COO Niklas Adalberth and Jens Saltin, the company's vice president of sales in the Netherlands, were arrested for allegedly molesting a 19-year-old woman from Texas at the W Hotel in Midtown.

Both men, who have taken temporarily leave at Klarna, were released on $10,000 bail. According to the DA's report, Mr. Adalberth and Mr. Saltin were called before Judge Anthony Ferrara in Manhattan Criminal Court today and appeared with their attorneys:

·       Prosecutors stated on the record that there was no grand jury action at this time and requested an adjournment.

·       DC consented and requested a short adjournment.

·        Judge adjourned (or scheduled) case for Friday, 2/24/12 in Part F for Control.

The lack of grand jury action is not unusual. Typically, the DA's office asks for more time and the defense grants it. Since both defendants are out of bail, rather than in custody, it affords the DA's office more flexibility.

In the original complaint against Mr. Adalberth and Mr. Saltin, both men were accused of one alleged count of “sexual abuse in the first degree.” The complaint also alleges that Mr. Adalberth straddled the informant, both defendants removed her clothes, and that Mr. Adalberth "grabbed [the] informant’s breast."

After its latest round of funding, a $155 million pre-IPO round from General Atlantic and Yuri Milner’s Digital Sky Technologies, Klarna's valuation was reportedly approaching $1 billion. Sequoia Partners' Michael Moritz also sits on Klarna's board.

UPDATE: During the court appearance earlier today, the New York Daily News reports that defense attorney Andrea Zellan told the judge, “Your honor, the DA’s office is working very quickly on an investigation. I believe that at the end of that investigation that the charges will be dropped.”

Ms. Zellan works for Brafman & Associates, the firm helmed by renowned criminal defense attorney Benjamin Brafman, who notably represented Dominique Strauss-Kahn during somewhat similar sexual assault allegations at the Sofitel Hotel in Midtown, which were ultimately dismissed.

According to the Daily News, Ms. Zellan maintained her clients's innocence:

“The charges against both men are based on completely false allegations,” Zellan said after court. “Neither of the men accused did anything inappropriate, and they certainly did not commit a crime.”

Betabeat has been trying to reach Ms. Zellan since Wednesday and will update you when we hear back.

Mr. Adalberth via Crunchbase

Early this morning, the New York Post reported that two "Swedish tourists" were arrested for allegedly molesting a 19-year-old Texas woman at the W Hotel on Lexington Avenue and East 50th Street. The alleged attack occurred at 8 p.m. on Saturday.

Case details on the New York State Court site confirm that Niklas Adalberth, 30, was one of the men arrested. The Post reports that Jens Saltin, 31, was also arrested. "Adalberth allegedly straddled her body while he and Saltin ripped off her clothes and fondled her," the paper said. According to the document, the arrests occurred Saturday night around 10.30 p.m.