He wipes the sweat from his hands and reaches for his right hand in his trouser pocket. Helge Finnestad (53) pulls up a piece of paper. The mechanic has calculated how much money he and his wife have lost in the investment project The Gate Index since 2020. On the note it says that the couple have entered with approximately NOK 750,000 for themselves and others. But around NOK 165,000 has also returned. – Around NOK 600,000. In net loss, says Finnestad. Helge Finnestad was a significant investor and a very keen recruiter for The Gate Index. Now he regrets it. Photo: Erik Waage news recently wrote that around 400 Norwegian private individuals have invested over NOK 30 million. The hope was that an emigrant Norwegian in Cyprus would multiply their money. Helge Finnestad was one of those who believed in the project the most. – Believing and knowing are two different things We meet Finnestad at home on the rented farm in Jåttå in Stavanger. For several years, he and his wife saved money to buy a house. Finnestad strongly believed that the investment in The Gate Index would make a positive contribution to fulfilling his dream. But in recent months, the situation has been turned upside down. Today, Finnestad considers the investment to be almost worthless. The savings are long gone, and the family has a significant consumer debt. – I think a lot about whether I will ever be able to make amends, says Finnestad. Helge Finnestad, at home on the rented farm outside Stavanger. Photo: Erik Waage The 53-year-old admits that he did not have a full overview and insight into what was going on in The Gate Index. But he also saw no reason to doubt the project. – It may be a bit naive, but I have always thought that there are smarter people than me in this assembly. Company managers and prominent people who nod and smile, says Finnestad and continues: – We have not believed anything other than what we have been presented with. Believing and knowing are two different things. The 53-year-old has always believed that a big payout would be just around the corner. Lately he has realized that it will probably never come. – Now it’s just a matter of putting on work clothes and getting out. I don’t see any other way out, says Finnestad. For four years, Geir Skoug told about stock market listings and large payments to investors at Jæren. When news met him at Hotel Victoria in Stavanger, he was tight-lipped about the project. Photo: Erik Waage news has presented these claims to The Gate Index CEO Geir Skoug. He denies that the investment is now worthless. The shadow trade It all started in early 2020, when a friend took him to an event in the neighboring municipality of Sola. The businessman Geir Skoug, who Finnestad thought seemed to inspire confidence, told about a very special trading platform. Skoug called the platform a “shadow trade”, a trade in goods outside the ordinary market. For every trade in goods between Europe and Asia, Norwegian investors such as Finnestad were to receive a piece of the profit. Finnestad didn’t get to know much, but thought that the concept seemed safe and predictable – and not least lucrative. He set up a calculation of how much he could earn. – This had been going on for several years. People I spoke to had been to Cyprus and seen the goods with their own eyes. You believe what people say, says Finnestad. – Don’t you think it sounds too good to be true? – We had to pay money to participate. But I see now that it seems whimsical. Fast money In addition to shadow trading, Finnestad could buy shares in the companies of The Gate Index. These were to go on the stock exchange in London, Stuttgart and Stockholm. Finnestad claims that, as an early investor, he was promised between three and five times the money on the investment. – It was the shares that were supposed to fulfill our dreams, says Finnestad. – What were your dreams? – The dream is to do as you want. Drive any car you want, build a house with a garage in the basement and a lift for the car. These are the kinds of things you think about. To live better than what you do now in any case, says the mechanic. In an email to news, Skoug replies: “We have not ‘promised’ anyone a high return. At the same time, it is in the strategy we work according to without exception that the upside of the projects can be significant”. Helge Finnestad thought that “ok, I don’t understand much of this. But it sounds good.” Today, he regrets not having investigated the investment project more thoroughly. Photo: Erik Waage The first stop was the IPO of a company in London. Finnestad and the other investors were given a deadline to pay by April 2020. He got the impression that the IPO would take place within eight to twelve weeks. – There were no boundaries. One hundred men at Jæren were to become millionaires within a few months. But the announced IPO did not materialize. Management blamed the corona pandemic. Finnestad was not alarmed. On the contrary. He bet everything. Team leader The Gate Index was not only about shadow trading and shares, but also about recruiting new investors. People who recruited new investors received higher status, money and more information than others. news has seen documentation that shows that Helge Finnestad was among the most eager to recruit new people to the project. Around 60 people in The Gate Index can be linked directly or indirectly to Finnestad. Inside The Gate Index, Helge Finnestad had an overview of the people he enlisted. The website is now down. Photo: Erik Waage Throughout 2020 and 2021, he recruited acquaintances, family and colleagues. He was awarded the title of Teamleader in The Gate Index network. – When I see a good opportunity, I can’t keep quiet about it. I have to tell about it. And then I got a small profit for taking people with me, says Finnestad. He believed in the investment project so much that he took out two expensive consumer loans of NOK 250,000 each. He transferred the money to bank accounts in Cyprus. – It took two minutes to get NOK 250,000. And two minutes later, I had invested this money. It should be a sure winner, says Finnestad. The phone that changed everything Finnestad noticed that it was getting harder and harder to be an investor in The Gate Index beyond 2022 and 2023. The IPOs and the big profit never came. Not least, it was difficult to be team leader, and to be responsible for those he had brought into the project. Helge Finnestad feels a very guilty conscience towards the people he has recruited. Photo: Erik Waage In February 2024, the doubts seriously arose. news called and wanted to talk about The Gate Index. The 53-year-old got out a few words that he had full confidence in Geir Skoug, and ended the conversation abruptly. But the feeling of having been deceived, tough through the wall of trust. – Everything after that conversation was about following along, to find an opportunity to get the money out. But I don’t see such an opportunity now, says Finnestad. “No nice message” On 10 May 2024, an e-mail arrived from Rune Egeland, who was Geir Skoug’s closest ally in Norway. Egeland was the man who recruited Finnestad and several other key people to The Gate Index. “No nice message”, it said in the subject field. Egeland claimed that he had been deceived by the top manager Skoug. Egeland used expressions such as “pure lie” and “cynical swindler”. In response, Skoug has accused Egeland of spreading false information and acting disloyally. The words in the e-mail from Egeland hit hard. Finnestad says he became physically unwell thinking about what he had done. – Skoug called me the last time in May. Then I said that now that’s enough, says Finnestad. Helge Finnestad heard about reverse acquisitions, share conversions and other financial acrobatics. Seen from the farm outside Stavanger, the scheme seemed very promising. Photo: Erik Waage Finnestad is a sane fellow. But now he’s pissed off. He is one of several that news is talking to who want to go after Geir Skoug legally. Initially in the form of a review. – I probably don’t think we will become homeowners. The capital we had four years ago, which we had built up over time, has been blown, says Finnestad. Indicates that Finnestad has received payments In an e-mail to news, Skoug writes that Finnestad has received a significant amount, as well as share rights for the office work he has done. Skoug writes that he does not recognize any deadline for payment before the IPO in London, which never materialized. Geir Skoug rejects the criticism from Helge Finnestad. Photo: Lars Navestad / news The Gate Index manager points out that Finnestad and the others were offered share rights in other companies after the aforementioned IPO did not become a reality. “The concept changed, and from autumn 2020 it became the case that those who had shares or share rights in the first company were given the same number of shares in the new project companies. This is something everyone knows,” Skoug replies. Published 13.10.2024, at 17.10 Updated 13.10.2024, at 18.26
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Helge (53) bet everything on getting rich with The Gate Index – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
