The state has been sentenced to pay Rune Halseth and Marianne Evensen NOK 900,000 more than they have received in compensation. The Oslo District Court has decided that. There were three people who sued the State. The last claimant got nothing more. From before, Halseth and Evensen have been awarded 150,000 and 100,000 each. The state therefore has to pay a total of NOK 1 million to each of them. But Halseth is not satisfied. – We will go through the judgment very carefully, but based on what we have read, we do not agree with the sentencing, says Halseth to news. Facts about the social security scandal * The social security scandal, also known as the Nav scandal, came to light in 2019. * At least 86 people have been wrongly convicted of social security fraud, and at least 7,490 social security recipients have been wrongfully demanded repayment. * This is because the Storting, the courts and the administration have interpreted the EEA regulations incorrectly. * The case concerns persons who have received sickness benefit, work clarification benefit or care benefit while they have stayed in other countries in the EEA area. * NAV made a requirement that recipients of these benefits had to stay on Norwegian soil. This was contrary to the EEA agreement, which states that everyone can move freely within the EEA area. * The rules have been interpreted incorrectly since 1994. * An investigation committee was set up in November 2019 under the leadership of Professor Finn Arnesen. * On 4 August 2020, the investigative committee presented its final report called “Blindzonen”. The report showed that there had been a systemic failure in the processing of rules and individual cases. Likely appeal – Many will think NOK 900,000 is a lot of money. Why aren’t you happy with it? – Because it is a pilot case. And what they have done are very, very serious things. We do not see that this is a fine for so many years of torment that they have been doing, says Halseth. The fact that one of the three plaintiffs did not receive anything extra is one of the other points Halseth is not satisfied with. – So there will be an appeal? – I can probably say with certainty that it will be, replies Halseth. Split decision David Magnus Myr at the Government Attorney notes that the professional judge went for a smaller compensation (respectively NOK 200,000 and 250,000). – The state is largely satisfied that many of the demands from the plaintiffs did not materialize. And we notice the dissent among the judges regarding the compensation amount, says Myr to news. He cannot say whether the State will appeal. Sued the State The NAV clean-up organization and three of the victims of the social security scandal sued the State. They demanded a larger compensation than what they have received. The case is referred to as a pilot case. This means that the outcome becomes important in all the other cases. The trial took place in the Oslo District Court on Monday in September. – I have gone through hell. Now it’s over, Rune Halseth told news when the case started. Found 7490 affected by the Nav error 790 of these people have received unjustified refund claims from Nav. 6,401 people have received unjustified decisions on refusal, suspension and reduction of benefits. 299 people have received both unjustified repayment claims from Nav and unjustified decisions on refusal, suspension and curtailment. – We do not know what the total extent of those affected back to 1994 is. But there are probably fewer people affected before 1 June 2012 than after 1 June 2012, writes Nav. Read more here Wrongly convicted Two of the plaintiffs have presented their story in the press. In 2015, Rune Halseth was charged with gross fraud and false statement. He stayed in Denmark while receiving work clearance allowance, which he had told NAV about. He was sentenced to five months in prison and had to serve 85 days among murderers before being transferred to serve time with ankle chains. But the verdict was wrong. Norway had a set of regulations that were not in line with the EEA Agreement. – I have gone through hell. Now it’s over. Dispute over compensation The plaintiffs believe they are entitled to more money, but the State believes the payments are correct. – In the state’s view, there is no indication that anyone knowingly and willingly practiced the rules in a way that was in conflict with the EEA rules, stated lawyer David Magnus Myr at the Government Attorney. He says the State agrees that the wrongly convicted should receive compensation. – Because of this, they have received NOK 150,000 and NOK 100,000 each in compensation from the State. The plaintiffs believe that they are entitled to more compensation than this. The state believes that the compensation amounts they have already been awarded are correct, said Myr. Mistakes since 1994 The Norwegian social security scandal came to the surface in 2019. Nav had practiced the rules for taking social security benefits to EU and EEA countries incorrectly. The Norwegian authorities believed that social security recipients could not receive benefits from Norway if they stayed in another country. 86 social security recipients were wrongly convicted. Nav has found 7,490 people who are affected by the EEA error in one way or another (See facts). At the turn of the year, the total financial scope of payments and cancellation of debt was approximately NOK 375 million. The error stretches all the way back to 1994. The number of how many were affected is still uncertain.
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Nav victims get NOK 900,000 more – will probably appeal – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
