For over seven years, a bus driver in Bergen put a portion of ticket money into his own pocket. Now he must pay all the money back, to a total of 1.25 million.
‘It was especially the many tourists who just paid and sat down on the bus on the way to or from the airport. They received no tickets.
I either sold the ticket to the next passenger, or didn’t sign the ticket purchase into the machine. I was left with the profit after a working day, while Tide got what was registered’, said the ex-driver in court, according to Bergensavisen newspaper.
Bergens Tidende newspaper reported that according to the judgment passed down in Bergen District Court, from January 2008 to April 2015, the driver deposited 1.25 million into his own pocket.
The court called it ‘a gross breach of confidence against the employer’, since the driver had been shown trust to handle the cash settlement on his own.
In court, the driver received what is called a ‘tilståelsesdom’ (summary proceedings on the basis of a guilty plea). This means that if the accused confesses guilt without reservation, they receive a sentence reduction. The court passed down a ten month prison sentence, and the driver must also pay back the full amount that was embezzled.
The Court noted that the case was waiting for a full year without investigation by the police, and said that this is too long.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
