In just one year, five men managed to cheat NOK 36 million from several banks. Now they are to be sentenced after the mafia law was utilised.
The five misused other people’s identities to create bank accounts in several different banks and then raise loans from those banks, wrote VG newspaper. The court found that the fraud fell under section 60 of the Criminal Code, the so-called ‘Mafiaparagraf.’
“The offences do not appear to be spontaneous, but show a pattern with many similarities that indicate that the business was characterised by planning and professionalism”, it was stated in the judgment.
Three months
The trial in Oslo District Court took more than three months, and according to Aftenposten newspaper, which previously discussed the case, the group used 29 different identities to illegally obtain loans and credits from a number of banks, credit card companies, and other financial institutions.
The five, who are affiliated with the Tamil milieu, are sentenced to imprisonment
from between three and six and a half years in jail. They also have to pay 25 million
kroner in compensation. The five are regarded as the main men behind the scam.
A 36 year old car mechanic, who rented a room at Romerike where the fraud occurred,received the strictest sentence of six and a half years. His defence lawyer informed VG newspaper that the verdict will be appealed.
Comprehensive
The National Criminal Investigation Service (Kripos) and the IRS received the first concerns in the autumn of 2014. ‘Eskomrim’ and Nav joined in extensive cooperation, and in October 2015, 220 people from the police, the tax administration and Nav joined a coordinated investigative action in Oslo, Romerike, Drammen and at Nesodden to ensure proof.
21 people were arrested and charged with gross economic crime. A total of 85 people have been charged in the case, but 15 appeals have been dropped.
© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today
