Nittedal’s suspended mayor Hilde Thorkildsen denies criminal guilt for corruption

Nittedal’s suspended mayor Hilde Thorkildsen denies criminal guilt for corruption.

Nittedal’s suspended mayor Hilde Thorkildsen denied criminal guilt when the trial against her and a co-defendant started in Romerike and Glåmdal District Court on Tuesday.

“I look forward to telling my story in court,” Hilde Thorkildsen (AP) told the newspaper Romerikes Blad on Monday.

When the trial started in Romerike and Glåmdal District Court in Lillestrøm on Tuesday, both Thorkildsen and a co-accused local businessman in his 40s denied criminal guilt for gross corruption, according to the newspaper.

According to Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK), this is the first time an elected representative has been charged with gross corruption in Norway.

Thorkildsen has, at her own request, been suspended from the role of mayor since December last year, while the corruption case against her is ongoing.

NOK 125,000 transfer

According to the indictment, she was involved in the Municipality’s processing of cases where the businessman had interests and ownership, including the regulation and development of a new residential area in Bjørnholtlia in Hakadal.

The indictment is further based on the fact that in November of 2013, the businessman arranged for the transfer of NOK 125,000 to a company that is partly owned by Thorkildsen. She previously ran two clothing stores, and the money transfer is linked to the company that owns these stores, according to NTB.

In his introductory speech on Tuesday, prosecutor Esben Kyhring said that the issue of the real background for the transfer of the NOK 125,000 would be a key question throughout the trial, Romerikes Blad writes.

Økokrim investigation

Kyhring also said that the National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime in Norway (Økokrim) carried out a covert investigation of the two defendants, as well as of one of the persons charged in the period between January 2 and February 13 last year.

Five weeks have been set aside for the trial.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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