– We have not planned to look back in time on accounts. Hilde Karlsen is acting group leader in Stavanger Høyre. She is talking about transactions on Stavanger Høyre’s city council group’s account that were made before 2023. Yesterday it came as a shock to many that the Stavanger mayor said she would resign as mayor. The background was that on several occasions she had used Høyre money for private purposes. Acting group leader Hilde Karlsen in Stavanger Conservative Party. Photo: Jakub Spadlo / news – The case is closed for us This was discovered in an internal control, which was carried out before the accounts were sent for audit this year. – These are not new routines, but we see that there is a lot of attention, both politically and in the media, that politicians must be compliant. In previous years, the control has not been the same. – We have not had the same attention to the accounts before 2023, she says. But they do not want to go back and look at previous accounts. Karlsen says they have audited all the accounts behind schedule, and that the auditors have found them in order. – The case is closed as far as we are concerned, says Karlsen. Chairman’s meeting in Stavanger on Thursday. Photo: Arild Eskeland / news Political commentator: – Strange Political commentator in news, Lars Nehru Sand, says it is strange that Stavanger Høyre does not want to look at transactions going back in time. – Full transparency would have been good since the Conservative Party says that the routines are not good enough. There is reason to believe that there may be more details buried here that the Conservative Party locally does not want to find out, he says. Political commentator Lars Nehru Sand in news. Photo: Jon Petrusson / news Misused the city council’s payment card It was through an internal control that it emerged that a payment card linked to the city council group’s account had been used to pay for expenses that should not have been charged to the city council group. This has happened on at least nine occasions in the period January to September 2023. The case concerns the following transactions: 16 January 2023: Online shopping with Klarna. Incorrect use of the city council group’s card on four occasions on the same day. A total of NOK 8,813. 18 February 2023: Purchase of a plane ticket from Stavanger to Alicante. The reason for the purchase was that Sissel Knutsen Hegdal had to buy a new ticket in connection with Erna Solberg’s visit to Stavanger. The travel bill lacks documentation documenting that a new plane ticket purchased with the city council group’s payment card compensates for a private outlay for the original trip. A total of NOK 4,901. 21 April 2023: Flight ticket to Oslo without documentation of a work-related agreement in Oslo. A total of NOK 3,479. 4 May 2023: Withdrawal of cash without documentation. A total of NOK 5,000. 13 June 2023: The city council group’s card was used to pay for a gift to a party member, at the same time that a fundraiser had taken place via Spleis for the same gift. A total of NOK 3,900. 26 – 27 September 2023: Tickets to Utopia and purchase of eight festival passes. Five of the festival passes were for Conservative Party politicians and entourages and were approved, but the other three festival passes for family members were not. The amount to be repaid totals NOK 11,996. 9 September 2023: Dinner with the family at Restaurant Vaar as a conclusion to the election campaign. A total of NOK 7,500. 13 September 2023: Dinner at Restaurant Harry Pepper on election day with spouse and a couple of friends. A total of NOK 4,000. 18 September 2023: Purchase of a plane ticket from Oslo to Stavanger to a person with no formal connection to the Conservative Party. A total of NOK 1,559. All amounts have been refunded. In total, we are talking about NOK 51,148. Source: Press release from the Conservative Party The card in question was disposed of by Knutsen Hegdal, who during this period was the Conservative Party’s group leader in Stavanger city council. The case thus concerns circumstances that took place before she was elected mayor. Knutsen Hegdal has repaid the entire amount, a total of NOK 51,148, to Stavanger Høyre’s city council group. Confusion about reporting The Conservative Party has recommended reporting Knutsen Hegdal to the police. Stavanger Høyre completely disagrees. Høyre Central says they have sent all the documents they have to the police so they can make an assessment. – I confirm that we have handed over the relevant documents we have to the police. Then it is up to the police to assess whether this is something they want to look into more closely, says Secretary General of the Conservative Party, Tom Erlend Skaug to news. The police say they have not received these documents. Several Høyre leaders have been in Stavanger and participated in meetings on the issue. Stavanger Conservative Party will eventually start an internal process to find a new mayoral candidate from among the Conservative Party’s other members of the city council. On Wednesday evening, a crisis meeting was held in Stavanger concert hall. Published 05.09.2024, at 13.14 Updated 05.09.2024, at 13.59
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Stavanger Høyre will not do investigations back in time – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
