Man arrested and charged with abuse of the crown scheme in June: must have abused the new crown scheme for another three months – E24

The man in his 20s was in preventive detention for four weeks on Thursday, accused, among other things, of violating the law on temporary subsidy schemes for companies with a large drop in turnover.

Additionally, he is now charged with fraud over Nav’s compensation plan.

According to the prison order, the accused has recognized some of the circumstances, and the court determines that the conditions are in place for the detained man to be in custody, in order to prevent him from committing a criminal act again.

This is because he was already interrogated in June, where he acknowledged that the companies for which he had applied for grants, they were not active or had rotation.

– This is the same person who was, and is, accused of abuse of the Tax Administration scheme, from a news item in June, confirms the prosecutor Jens Halvard Bachke in Økokrim at E24.

The man’s defender, attorney Steingrim Wolland at the Rogstad law firm, tells E24 that the client has confessed to abuse of the subsidy scheme, which he claims only took place in the spring, but denies that he should have continued to abuse the scheme.

Fraud of 3.5 million crowns

In the three months since the interrogation in June, he has continued like this with new crimes, Økokrim suspects. This “has resulted in unjustified payments throughout the summer and until September of this year”, is clear from the ruling.

The defendant has tried to get Nav to pay him 3 million kronor over the summer, and should have managed to receive payments of 2.7 million, says Bachke.

This is in addition to the 500,000 crowns for which he has already defrauded the Tax Administration, according to Økokrim.

Bachke doesn’t want to comment on where the money is now. The man was arrested Wednesday and taken to prison Thursday.

– Why was the man not presented for incarceration in June?

– It is based on an assessment of the case, and if necessary and proportionate to present. It is clear from how he responded to the accusation in June, as stated by the defender in the news of the case at the time. Based on an overall assessment, it wasn’t deemed necessary in June, Bachke says.

So far, the research is only targeting one person, he says.

At the same time, Økokrim confirms that this is the first and so far only case in Økokrim that concerns the fraud of the subsidy system for companies with a drop in turnover.

Regarding the fraud in the salary compensation scheme at Nav, this is one of several cases in Økokrim today.

According to the ruling, the man has explained to the police that he is “good at finding” such schemes and that he needed money.

Both Nav and the Tax Administration state to E24 that they cannot comment on the case due to a duty of confidentiality.

I think someone else has

– This is a completely “straightforward” case where a guy cheated with the subsidy scheme. He has confessed. When the plan was introduced, it was known there would be cheating, so this is predictable, says the man’s defender, attorney Steingrim Wolland.

However, he disagrees that the man should have continued to abuse new subsidy schemes after questioning in June.

– No, it’s not the same. My husband says “no, no, what happened next is not him.” I haven’t seen anything today to show that he went through with it, says Wolland.

Instead, the defendant believes that other people have abused on his behalf in the last period.

The Ecocrime Officer: It is important to protect the schemes

Ecocrime manager Pål Lønseth emphasizes the importance of preventing the abuse of corona schemes, and that cases like this will have a deterrent effect.

– In order to achieve quick decisions and prevent abuses, the Norwegian Police Directorate has tasked Økokrim with dealing with some criminal cases related to abuse within each of the relevant covid-19 support schemes. Especially in a crisis situation, it is important to protect support schemes from abuse. The goal is for swift action, investigation and sentencing to have a deterrent effect on those who are considering abusing the schemes, Lønseth writes in an email to E24.

– How serious is the abuse of such schemes?

– We are in an extraordinary situation where extraordinary support plans have been put in place to limit the damaging economic effects on Norwegian society. Misuse of these undermines the schemes and may ultimately mean that such support schemes are not in place. The abuse undermines the management of the economic crisis. We think it is very serious.

– How many resources will Økokrim spend on prosecuting those who abuse subsidy schemes in the future?

– We have prioritized these issues for some time and are prepared to continue to do so as well. Today, several research teams participate. But I would like to remind you that many cases are also being investigated locally in police districts, some of them with the help of Økokrim, says Lønseth.

– We will also spend some resources on prevention outside of actual prosecution in individual cases. It is particularly important for us to enter into a dialogue with the authorities who administer support schemes where there is little or no control before payment, but where control is only done after some of the payments.