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Police propose that the prosecutor issue blatant fraud charges, 17 months after Aftenposten disclosed the Labor politician’s fictitious travel expenses.
Hege Haukeland Liadal together with party leader Jonas Gahr Støre in Liadal’s hometown of Haugesund during the 2017 election campaign. Photo: Jon Olav Nesvold / NTB scanpix
Both the Oslo police and Liadal’s lawyer, Erik Lea, confirmed the charge on Friday afternoon.
“The case has been sent to the Oslo Public Prosecutor’s Office with a proposal that an indictment be brought against Liadal for serious fraud against the Storting related to 22 travel expenses in the period 2016-2018,” writes Police Inspector Ole Rasmus Knudsen in an email.
Six-year sentence limit
According to Lea, Liadal does not admit criminal guilt for gross intentional fraud, but for gross negligent fraud.
While gross fraud has a maximum penalty of six years, gross negligence fraud has a penalty of one year.
– There are two more likely possibilities. If the prosecutor believes that there is a serious intentional fraud here, he will go to the main hearing in the Oslo District Court. If the prosecutor agrees with my allegations that it is a gross negligence fraud case, then there may be a charge based on this and a confession case, says Lea.
Submit fake travel invoices
In April 2019, the Storting denounced the Parliamentary representative of the Labor Party, Hege Haukeland Liadal.
This came after Aftenposten revealed that for several years it had submitted false travel invoices to the Storting, private covered trips and inflated distances on travel allowance claims.
Read the disclosures here:
In other words, the case has been in the hands of the police for 17 months. The case differs from the criminal case involving former FRP politician and parliamentary representative Mazyar Keshvari. He was charged after a month. He was recently sentenced to 11 months in unconditional prison in the Supreme Court.
“The investigation of the case has been complex and time consuming for the police. In total, the police have had to go through approximately 700 travel bills and submit them to a separate and individual investigation. This has necessarily taken time and means that the investigation has significantly deferred from that of Mazyar Keshvari. Keshvari also recognized the circumstances early in the questioning, “writes Knudsen.
Liadal has always stated that he has not purposely submitted illegal travel allowance claims, but rather it is about mistakes and misunderstandings.
In September, it became clear that Hege Haukeland Liadal is not relevant among Rogaland Ap’s candidates for next year’s parliamentary elections.
