Two couples from Oslo (West) admit to having violated the Immigration Act by providing incorrect information to the authorities in connection with the au pair permits of four Filipino nationals.
In a criminal case that began in Oslo District Court on Tuesday, the accused recognized being guilty of several breaches of the Immigration Act, but they did not acknowledge having infringed penal law by contributing to the au pairs false statements when they applied for residence permits, reported Dagens Næringsliv newspaper.
Among the four accused is a former leading broker with a fortune topping a billion.
Smuggling and misleading
According to the indictment, the couples included improper information, stating that they only had one au pair, that the au pair would attend tuition, and that the au pair would not work as a maid.
All stand accused of having helped a ‘foreigner illegally enter the realm,’ or so-called simple human trafficking, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison. Defence advisor, Svein Holden, said the concept of human smuggling is misleading.
‘This is a case that revolves around having had two au pairs simultaneously, while they are only allowed to have one’, said Holden.
All are also accused of helping a foreigner to ‘illegally reside in the country’, and two of the four defendants are accused of having made use of foreigners’ labour despite the fact that these workers had no work permits.
Attorney Gunhild Vehus Heia, counsel for two of the au pairs, believes it can be proven that her two clients each had an average weekly working time of 63.5 hours, according to Dagens Næringsliv.
One of the au pairs has demanded compensation of 855,000 as salary arrears, and 60,000 for damages.
The case goes before the District Court until January 18th.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
