The big scam lasted for ten years without being detected. 21 million municipal kroner ended up in private pockets. Now a former IT manager in Tana municipality and a business owner from Hamar have been sentenced to pay the money back to Tana municipality. Today came the verdict after the trial that took place in Hamar District Court last week. The business manager and IT manager became known when his IT company did a job for Tana municipality. Photo: Lisa Rypeng / news The court believes that it has been proven beyond any reasonable doubt that the two defendants have acted in accordance with the indictment, and that they have acted with knowledge and will, it is stated in the judgment. The sentence is thus imprisoned for five years and four months for Hamarmannen and for four years and two months for the IT manager. The sentence is thus two months shorter than the prosecuting authorities requested for each of the accused. – I have just read the verdict, which is very close to the criminal claim, says prosecutor Thorbjørn Klundseter to news. – Are you satisfied? – It’s a little too early to say. I must have time to read the verdict thoroughly first, but it seems that a sentence has been imposed at least in line with the prosecution’s claim, says Klundseter. In addition, they must pay compensation to Tana municipality of 21 million kroner, as well as legal costs. Prosecutor Thorbjørn Klundseter says that the fraud and corruption case in Tana municipality is very serious. – It hits a small municipality hard. It’s a lot of money. It creates unrest in the municipality, it creates unrest in the local community. Photo: Lars Erik Skrefsrud / news This is one of the biggest corruption cases in a Norwegian municipality ever. The former IT manager and business owner was charged with gross corruption and gross financial infidelity. But the court concluded that the accused should not be punished for both, as the indictment provided. – In the court’s view, this is a coherent offense, and that corruption covers all aspects of the actions, it is stated in the judgment. – Yes, it is true that there was a discussion about whether one could use the infidelity provision and the corruption provision in the penal code side by side, Klundseter says. However, he emphasizes that this only means that the extent of the infidelity has been addressed in the corruption post. Both pleaded guilty and claimed they had intended to stop the fraud before police arrested them. Gambling addiction During the trial last week, it was explained how the two defendants both suffer from gambling addiction. – Both of them have had the disorder and it has been driving why it has gone so wrong. But that is just an explanation for the reason why it went so wrong, said prosecutor Thorbjørn Klundseter. Defenders Gøran Møller-Christiansen (left) and Vidar Zahl Arntzen say their clients cheated to finance gambling addiction. Photo: Lars Erik Skrefsrud / news Both the defender of the Hamar man, Gøran Møller-Christiansen, and the defender of the former IT manager in Tana, Vidar Zahl Arntzen, believed that these should be mitigating circumstances for sentencing. – Because there is something other than greed behind it. There is no question of grinding your own cake and running away with large amounts of money, Zahl Arntzen said after the trial. However, prosecutor Klundseter did not agree. – There is no excuse for what has happened. The responsibility lies there, and that responsibility must be taken. Furthermore, the public prosecutor pointed out that there is also no mitigating circumstance that Tana municipality had a particularly poor control over the flow of money in the municipality. This was heard in the verdict. The prosecutor asked for five years and six months in prison, respectively, for the business owner from Hamar, and four years and six months for the former IT manager in Tana. Mitigating circumstances Both defenders believed that their clients should be punished in the mildest possible way because they had both confessed and helped to solve the case. In the judgment from Hamar District Court, a confession discount has been given for just this. The penalty for gross corruption is ten years’ imprisonment. In the trial, the defenders argued that there is no legal basis for confiscating the money that has been defrauded. – The money has been wasted, there is no money to withdraw, said Gøran Møller-Christiansen. The court did not take this into account.
ttn-69
Must go to prison and pay back 21 million kroner – news Troms and Finnmark
