This is how the Rehman Foundation used the money – VG

On Monday night, the government announced that it would cut support for “Born Free.” The foundation is said to have used some of the state support they received for purposes other than those they received support, and lacks good financial management, a report by Ernst and Young shows, according to a government press release.

VG reviewed parts of the report and received the response that the foundation’s attorney delivered as a contradiction.

According to the Ernst and Young report, whom the foundation’s lawyer is highly critical of, so has:

“Born Fri completed a total of 3,628 bank transactions in the period that the foundation has received funds from lMDI. Of these, 2,568 transactions made with the foundation’s credit card (business card), mainly used by the CEO to purchase goods and services for a total of approx. 2,420,000 kr. “

“Negative social control”

“Born Free” was established in the fall of 2017 as a foundation with the aim of working against negative social control and equality between genders, religions and ethnicities.

Since 2017, the foundation has received just over NOK 15 million in grants from the state budget and through grant schemes managed by the Integration and Diversity Directorate (IMDi), including as a national resource environment.

VG has contacted Shabana Rehman about the report, but she is referring to the chairman of the board of Født Fri, Jan Sverre Asker. He tells VG that he will not discuss the details of the report.

– It is shocking that IMDi issued this report before we had access to it. It seems that they have not taken our answer into account. I will discuss each point with IMDi and the government before discussing it in the media, Asker tells VG.

In a press release, elaborate:

– Today, through VG, we have been informed that an investigative report on our business has been completed. We find the investigation very unsatisfactory. The report contains a number of errors and inaccuracies, writes the chairman of the board.

Defender of “Born Free”, Harald F. Strandenæs, tells VG that they are surprised by the outcome of the investigation. You have forwarded the VG letter you have sent to Ernst and Young as a contradiction.

– This is a very unexpected conclusion that IMDi draws based on what appears in the report itself. We experience that the entire investigation process has been highly unsatisfactory, in part due to the rush that characterizes the work, the lawyer tells VG.

Writing seminar in Spa

These are some of the points made in the report and the response of the lawyer representing Born Free.

• A “writing seminar” held at Son Spa from Friday, January 4, 2019 to Sunday, January 6, 2019. The stay at the hotel is provided by the Born Free Foundation. The invoice (…) denominated in NOK 14,964 includes hotel rooms, ‘day package’ for two on Sunday 6 January 2019 and dinner in a restaurant. “The trip was completed on a weekend with access to the hotel’s spa facilities (one-day package). The reason for the stay may seem private. Furthermore, the level of costs exceeds what can be considered reasonable for commercial purposes. ‘

The response to lawyer Strandenæs contains, among other things:

“Son Spa – a Nordic Choice Hotels, is located almost halfway between (…) and Shabana’s house, this was stated in the interview. If EY staff had investigated, the distance is 2.7 miles between Knapstad and Son, and thus it is one of the closest hotels to your hometown.

– Private trip

The Ernst and Young report also contains allegations that Rehman has been on a “private” trip to London. The allegations, which are rejected by the foundation’s attorney, include:

• “A review of the accounting documentation has identified costs totaling NOK 65,348 for a five-day stay in London in the period from 2 November to 6 November 2019 for the general manager and (…). The costs include travel, restaurant visits, hotel stays and tickets to the musical Thriller for the two of them.

The lawyer writes, among other things, in his answer on this:

At this point, it can be mentioned that the London seminar, which was agreed with the board, has never been “for the purpose of going to the AHA concert.” (…) The “AHA concert,” which was free, presented itself as a sudden opportunity after tickets were purchased and the trip planned. There is nothing reprehensible about going to this concert on a business trip. The use of time is brief and should at least be attributed to rest and recreation.

– was not heard

The lawyer’s response is marked by the fact that the foundation believes that reporters have not listened to Rehman’s explanation. He also writes that the report contains “a number of serious errors that, unfortunately, cannot be understood in any other way than that the EY staff have been biased.”

Regarding the aforementioned show, the lawyer writes:

“The mention of the cost of tickets in” Thriller “, a Michael Jackson show, where two artists and comedians watch one of the most watched music and dance shows in the world, to get impulses from a magazine with their own similar ingredients, it shows a relationship with creative thought processes that say more about the writer of the report than the cost.

“When I add that this is NOT financed with public funds, but according to the Shreibler Foundation they went over their allocation, as indicated in the original accounting document, I cannot perceive anything other than an objective view of the reporter”, adds the lawyer. to.

– Purchase of electronics

The Ernst and Young report states that complaints have been made about
Acquisition of electronic items for private purposes that should have been charged to the foundation.

“Purchases are mainly made at the Eplehuset and EIkjøp department stores. Two employees are registered with the foundation. The surveys show extensive purchases of electronic equipment purchased in the survey period, including one Mac computer for NOK 73,319, five mobile phones costing up to NOK 17,190 for. units, one drone for DKK 9,984 and two units. Apple Watch for a total of NOK 10 580 ».

Here the report refers to what Rehman has explained:

“The foundation, through the organization secretary and general manager, has explained that the purpose of acquiring technical equipment has been relevant to the operations and purposes of the foundation. Including that a purchased Mac computer and drone were intended for film production, but that the foundation has yet to use the equipment for such purposes.

Restaurants

It also says about extensive food orders on the foundation’s business card. It says here, among other things, that it is “I made food purchases and restaurant visits paid with the foundation’s business card (credit card) 46 times for more than NOK 52,000 at Mr. India restaurant in Oslo. In addition, 13 purchases have been identified at the Mr. India restaurant where payment was made at 20:00 or later in the evening ».

The report also mentions a boat trip in connection with a documentary to be made on a school magazine, which cost more than 46,000 kroner and where four of the 21 participants were related to an affiliated organization.

The attorney does not specifically address these points in his response to Ernst and Young.

The foundation’s attorney writes in his response that Shabana Rehman believes that the minutes of the interviews are inaccurate.

“From this side, it has been stated unequivocally that the minutes of the interviews are incomplete and not adequate to the content of the interviews,” the lawyer writes.

The lawyer also points out that Shabana Rehman was given a very short deadline to respond, a deadline that expired the next day.

“This deadline is practically impossible to meet,” writes the lawyer.

In the report, Ernst and Young recommend that IMDi consider reporting the circumstances described in the report to the police to obtain an assessment of whether there has been a violation of the Penal Code or other legislation.

– It is true that Ernst and Young recommend considering the possibility of reporting to the police. We’ll come back with a closer assessment of this, IMDi director Libe Rieber Mohn tells VG.