Finance Credit was a Norwegian company that went bankrupt in 2002, after facing criminal investigation for siphoning funds (in total 1,4 billion

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, of which th ...

) it borrowed from six Norwegian banks to offshore tax havens, in what became known as the Finance Credit scandal, arguably the biggest economic fraud in Norwegian history. The company was founded by

Torgeir Stensrud Finance Credit was a Norwegian company that went bankrupt in 2002, after facing criminal investigation for siphoning funds (in total 1,4 billion Norwegian krone, NOK) it borrowed from six Norwegian banks to offshore tax havens, in what became known ...

and

Trond Kristoffersen Finance Credit was a Norwegian company that went bankrupt in 2002, after facing criminal investigation for siphoning funds (in total 1,4 billion NOK) it borrowed from six Norwegian banks to offshore tax havens, in what became known as the Finance C ...

, who were in 2005 convicted on charges of

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compen ...

to 7 and 9 years in prison, respectively. Stensrud and Kristoffersen were also both fined about 100 million €.

Trond Kristoffersen

''Trond Kristoffersen'' (13 August 1956 – August 2013) was co-founder of the Finance Credit. He was born in

Hammerfest Hammerfest (; sme, Hámmerfeasta ) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. Hammerfest is the northernmost town in the world with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hammerfe ...

. In 2003, he was convicted of

and sentenced to 9 years in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

. He was also fined 1,2 billion

(ca. €100 million), and subsequently went personally bankrupt. He was also barred from engaging in any independent form of trade, as well as from holding senior or board positions in any companies, for life. He was incarcerated in

Ullersmo prison Ullersmo Prison ( no, Ullersmo fengsel) is a prison in Ullensaker, Akershus. It was opened in 1970. The prison was intended as a replacement for the Botsfengselet in Oslo. It is used for long term prisoners from the whole of Norway Norw ...

from 2007, after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal, and was serving the rest of his 9-year

sentence. After six years in jail he was released after lodging an appeal. He died in August 2013.

Torgeir Stensrud

''Torgeir Stensrud'' (July 1, 1949 – September 27, 2015) was chairman of Finance Credit, a Norwegian former leader of

Interallied Confederation of Reserve Officers The Confédération Interalliée des Officiers de Réserve (CIOR) or Interallied Confederation of Reserve Officers is an association of reserve officers' associations in NATO and beyond. CIOR is sanctioned and formally recognized by NATO through th ...

, and military officer. He was sentenced to 7 years in prison for his role in the Finance Credit fraud scheme and 2002 bankruptcy.

External links

''Juryens begrunnelse SKUP-pris og diplomer 2002''(translation: The jury's reasoning for (awarding the) SKUP-award and diplomas)

References

{{reflist Defunct companies of Norway Companies disestablished in 2002 2002 in Norway