The insulted bunad company may have violated the law – E24

Raufoss-based company Ektebunad, as well as sister company NTS Tech, announced a court order in July this year. By then, customers had complained about non-delivery for several months, and with the bankruptcy, customer dissatisfaction intensified.

The housing manager Arne Krokeide has submitted preliminary reports to the Gjøvik District Court.

Here, the lawyer has tried, among other things, to respond when Ektebunad was insolvent, simply when he did not have money on the books to pay current expenses or the opportunity to settle debts.

According to Norwegian law, a company is obliged to report injunctive relief when it is insolvent.

“After a general assessment, the estate believes that the company has been insolvent since at least mid-2019,” Krokeide writes in the Ektebunad report.

Therefore, there are many indications that the company has operated at the creditor’s expense for an entire year, confirms the estate manager.

– If the company had gone bankrupt in mid-2019, it would not have been able to accumulate a debt with the sister company of NOK 1.8 million. In addition, many customers would save losses, he tells E24.

E24 has tried on several occasions, both now and in July, to contact Ektebunad management. We have not received a response to telephone messages, SMS or Messenger.

I had saved for a gift

In late July, a few weeks after the bankruptcy, E24 wrote that the Consumer Council had received more than 40 complaints and the police around 20 complaints against Ektebunad.

Minimal pensioner Aaslaug Bekkelund is one of those who says she has been scammed.

In October last year, the 75-year-old ordered a hardanger costume and paid almost 30,000 kroner in advance. The costume was supposed to be a gift for the grandson, but Bekkelund has never seen it. You probably won’t get your money back.

The bankruptcy estate has filed 46 different claims totaling NOK 2.2 million. Several of these come from customers who have paid in advance without getting what they asked for.

In one case, this applied to two full national suits with a total value of NOK 60,000, according to the housing manager’s report.

These are requirements for which, according to Krokeide, it is completely unlikely that there will be coverage for the estate.

Liability assessment

Ektebunad’s largest debt is to sister company NTS Tech. Both companies have been owned and run by the couple Roger and Cecilie Skjølås.

NTS Tech was established last year to run bunad jewelry production and was supposed to deliver products to Ektebunad, which has sold bunad and accessories through an online store. The company received a NOK 1.4 million loan from Innovation Norway and, according to the home manager’s report, went to buy various machines for the manufacture of brooches, buttons and the like.

During the time that NTS Tech was in operation, it appears, according to Arne Krokeide, that the company has constantly fed Ektebunad with capital. When the companies failed, Ektebunad owed the sister company almost two million crowns.

In the house manager’s opinion, it should be considered whether these loans should be considered irresponsible business management on the part of the Skjølås couple, as several of the transfers took place at a time when, according to Krokeide, it should be clear to them that Ektebunad could not return the money.

Therefore, it is relevant to raise the question of whether the board and the CEO of NTS Tech are responsible for the bankruptcy estate, the administrator claims.

Innovation Norway expects a loss

In the NTS Tech estate, eight claims totaling NOK 2.2 million have been reported so far.

Innovation Norway represents the largest claim, NOK 1.34 million. In fact, the equipment that was financed through the IN loan has provided the public company with coverage for only a fraction of the money it loaned.

After the bankruptcy proceedings were opened, the administrator concluded that the machines were worth significantly less than the mortgage claim and handed them over to Innovation Norway. They have resold the operating accessories for 90,000 crowns.

It’s common for operating accessories sold during bankruptcy to be priced significantly lower than the purchase price, especially when it comes to special equipment for a narrow market, according to special advisor Leela Borring Låstad in the financing division at Innovation Norway.

In the specific case, the investment had consisted of both the purchase of hardware and the development of software. The company had a niche production with expensive machines to buy, but with limited interest in the secondary market. Performing software during bankruptcy rarely pays off. These factors are reflected in the realization price, he writes in an email.

– How does Innovation Norway view the chances of getting coverage for its highlights?

– In cases where the realization of the guarantee does not meet the requirements of Innovation Norway, experience has shown that there will be a loss.

Apparently private use

In subsequent work, housing manager Arne Krokeide will consider whether the estate will recommend the Gjøvik District Court to impose bankruptcy quarantine on Roger Skjølås. He has been CEO and Chairman of the Board of both companies.

Krokeide has not concluded, but says it seems relevant to look at this.

In this assessment, Skjølås’ response on transactions of a seemingly private nature will be important, says Krokeide.

In fact, the farm has asked him for an account of a number of Ektebunad and NTS Tech VISA card expenses totaling NOK 101,000.

During the spring and until the opening of the bankruptcy, the majority of the transactions of the operating accounts of the companies have apparently been destined to the payment of ordinary living and consumption expenses, the report of the housing administrator affirms.

During the same period, dissatisfied customers have tried to get their money back for products that never arrived.

If Roger Skjølås is quarantined for bankruptcy, he will be denied the creation of new companies for a specified period.