This is stated by lawyer Audun Lillestølen, partner in Langseth Advokatfirma DA. The investigations are carried out in collaboration with state-authorised auditor Kjetil Andersen in EY. The lending scandal Per Asle Ousdal, former partner in the law firm Bull Årstad DA in Stavanger, is said to have raised loan capital from investors over several decades. These were offered interest rates of 10–15 per cent, without risk. The lawyer enjoyed a high degree of trust in the local business community, and he was a sought-after board member in various businesses. He informed the lenders that the law firm guaranteed the paid-in funds through so-called declarations of suretyship, but the guarantees turned out to be false. The lawyer left Bull Årstad on 31 December last year. The company reported him to the police on 31 May, and he took his own life three days later. The family has chosen to be open about this. The lenders who have lost money are both companies and private individuals in Rogaland, mostly south of Stavanger: In Sandnes, Ålgård and in the municipalities of Klepp, Time and Hå. The case broke in the media late in the evening on Wednesday 12 June. Then Sandnesposten reported that there had been a claim for at least half a billion kroner in the estate of a recently deceased lawyer from Sandnes. Dagens Næringsliv published a longer article about the entire case complex shortly afterwards. Økokrim announced on 18 June that they would start an investigation. The Sør-West police district is also involved in this. On 21 June, the Finanstilsynet also announced that they had started follow-up of certain companies in the case. This applies, among other things, to certain banks, as well as accounting agencies and audit firms. Lawyer Lillestølen has been appointed as a trustee by the Supervisory Board for legal professions to unravel what happened when the late Sandnes lawyer Per Asle Ousdal ran a fictitious loan business for several decades. NOK 727 million to client account Lillestølen states that so far it has uncovered payments from lenders of NOK 727 million to Advokatfirma Bull Årstad DA’s client account, while NOK 234 million has been paid into Per Asle Ousdal’s private accounts. According to Lillestølen, smaller amounts are likely to have gone through Ousdal’s private company Otica AS. Of the NOK 961 million paid to the now-deceased lawyer, first mentioned by Advokatwatch, he has therefore paid NOK 690 million back. Trustee Flemming Karlsen registers claims in the bankruptcy estate until 31 July. So far, claims of around NOK 700 million have been lodged. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news The difference between what the lenders have paid in total to Ousdal, and what they have received back is thus NOK 271 million. The total claims submitted to the bankruptcy estate, on the other hand, are more than NOK 700 million – i.e. close to half a billion NOK higher. – The reason for this could be, among other things, that the requirements also include lost interest income. In addition, there may be losses here that have gone through Ousdal’s sole proprietorship after he left Bull Årstad in December 2023. We have not been able to review all the transactions here, says Lillestølen. 104 lenders, three large So far, transactions have been reviewed from 2013 until today. This constitutes the ten-year period during which the banks store transaction data. The lending business has probably been going on for at least two decades. According to Lillestølen, payments to Ousdal from 104 lenders have been registered. A few of them account for a high proportion of the total. Three lenders have each lent amounts between NOK 75 and 100 million, the review shows so far. The deceased lawyer was a partner in Bull Årstad DA until 31 December last year. The lending scandal broke in the media on 12 June. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news Director Dag Eriksen of the Supervisory Board for legal professions tells news that it is too early to conclude why the illegal lending activity has not been discovered by the Supervisory Board earlier. – This is something we are still working to clarify, he says. The council supervised Bull Årstad DA in both 2018 and 2021, while Ousdal was still a partner in the company. Published 29/07/2024, at 13.59
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Lenders got NOK 690 million back – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
