Today there was a probate meeting for the bankrupt estates in the two companies of the late lawyer Per Asle Ousdal from Sandnes. Here it emerged that his wholly-owned company Otica has received almost NOK 200 million through the loan fraud. Much of this money has gone to private consumption. Ousdal bought property, boats, cars, art and jewellery. The company Otica AS owns, among other things, art worth over NOK 830,000. The money has come from the law firm Bull Årstad’s client account and Ousdal’s own savings account. – This is a collapse that had to happen, says trustee Flemming Karlsen in court on Friday. Enormous loan scandal Ousdal is involved in an extensive financial scandal involving fake loan agreements and missing funds. So extensive that it is called the biggest loan scandal in Norwegian history. The lawyer left his job at the law firm Bull Årstad on 31 December last year. The company reported him to the police on 31 May this year, and he took his own life three days later. Per Asle Ousdal. Photo: advokat-ousdal.no The lending scandal Per Asle Ousdal, former partner in Advokatfirma 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. The family receives harsh criticism Ousdal’s family receives harsh criticism in the reports presented to the court. – There is reason to suspect them of gross misunderstanding in the service. They have been completely passive, says Karlsen Attorney Flemming Karlsen is the trustee in the case. Photo: Thomas Ystrøm / news In the report it is stated that the family members who were board members have never had any knowledge of the company or taken any action beyond signing accounts in recent years. – We will later return to any criminal circumstances. That Ousdal has done a lot of criminal offenses is quite obvious, but here we are talking about possible criminal offenses committed by other persons, says the estate administrator. Jacob Bjønness-Jacobsen is the lawyer for one of the family members. He says this to news: – The family is working with the housing authority to get to the bottom of what has happened. They are deeply shaken by what has come to light, and not least the husband’s and father’s breach of trust, he says. Claims for NOK 765 million Claims from 114 creditors for NOK 765 million in the estate against the deceased lawyer have been filed. In addition, his private companies have gone bankrupt with a total debt of NOK 13.5 million. His assets, including a large plot of land in Arendal, are now being sold to cover the claims of 765 million, but it is far from enough to cover the debt. The late lawyer Per Asle Ousdal is behind perhaps the most extensive loan scandal in Norwegian history. He worked for many years for the law firm Bull Årstad in Stavanger. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news Økokrim is investigating the case, but they do not wish to comment on it at this time. The lenders were offered interest rates of 13 to 15 percent, without risk. Ousdal informed the lenders that the law firm guaranteed the funds paid in through so-called declarations of deposit. But the guarantees turned out to be false. No signs of any real borrowers have been found either. All the millions have probably gone to Ousland himself, and to pay interest and installments on loans already entered into. Think the creditors will get coverage Bård Ivar Koppang works at the law firm Selmer. On behalf of 45 creditors, Selmer has submitted a claim of NOK 330 million to the estate of lawyer Per Asle Ousdal. He says that what has come to light in the probate collections and the estate reports today fits in with the picture they have of the case. – The next phase will eventually be along the legal track, and it will probably help uncover further conditions and factual information that are still not known. Lawyer Bård Ivar Koppang in Selmer. Photo: Thomas Ystrøm / news He says they do not want to say anything about how the creditors are doing now. – We still believe that there is a preponderance of probability that the creditors will receive coverage for their claims, even if the estate itself will not provide coverage, he says. This is how the fraud happened: How could a lawyer manage to keep a fraud going for several decades, and deceive more than a hundred people for several hundred million kroner? We will try to explain this step by step: The first investors were offered to pay in loan capital which the now deceased lawyer Per Asle Ousdal said he would pass on to people who needed loans. The lenders were presented with interest rates far above what the market could otherwise offer. The money was paid into Ousdal, either to his private account, or to a large extent to the client account in the law firm in which he was a partner. But the money never passed on to the borrowers. They didn’t exist. The loan documents that Ousdal had drawn up were false. Instead, Ousdal used a good portion of the money that kept coming in from the lenders to pay out interest to the investors who had already joined. So far, everyone was satisfied, and no one suspected. In addition, Ousdal took part of the cake himself, either for private consumption or for his own investments. Over the years, more and more capital came in from new lenders, and for a long time Ousdal had enough money to pay out interest to those who were already in. At one point, the fraud scheme began to grow too large for Ousdal. This was especially true when lenders started insisting on having the entire loan repaid, what is known as the principal. Of course, such repayments require much more than just paying out interest. And as long as there were no real borrowers at the other end, there was no one who could repay the loans, other than Ousdal himself. But he had spent the money, either on himself or to pay interest. Beyond 2024, Ousdal was unable to make all the payments because new payments were no longer able to cover the ongoing obligations. The house of cards collapsed, and in June this year the scandal became a fact. Published 27/09/2024, at 11.06 Updated 27.09.2024, at 14.47
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Own company received 200 million. Much went to private consumption – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
