Cecilie Ditlev-Simonsen, daughter of Oslo's embattled mayor, is leaving her job as communications chief for industrial firm Norsk Hydro, at least temporarily, after admitting to tax evasion Monday afternoon.Her father, Oslo Mayor Per Ditlev-Simonsen, admitted earlier in the day to having funds in a secret Swiss bank account that he never declared on his own tax returns in the early 1990s.
He said the account had been opened by his late wife in the 1980s, and he'd only gained access to it after her death in 1990. He was Norway's Defense Minister at the time for the Conservative Party (Høyre), but negelected to declare the money that would have been subject to tax in Norway.
He said he closed the account "in late 1994 or early 1995." He became Oslo's mayor in 1995 and was already due to retire this fall before the Swiss bank account scandal broke.
Now his daughter Cecilie has broken her silence since newspaper Dagens Næringsliv first reported allegations about the existence of the family's undeclared money in Switzerland. The allegations emerged as part of a contested divorce settlement.
His daughter also admits she failed to declare around NOK 750,000 in cash that she'd inherited from her mother in 1991. That money would also have been subject to taxation in Norway, both in terms of the income it might generate and what it would add to her overall net worth. The Norwegian state taxes its citizens on their net worth year after year.
'Stupid'Ditlev-Simonsen admitted Monday that she kept the money in a Swiss bank account and never disclosed it to tax authorities.
I of course apologize for that stupidity from 1991," she said in an e-mail to journalists.
Her brother Sverre Ditlev-Simonsen, who carried on in the family’s shipping business and is chairman of Seabulk Management AS, also admitted receiving inheritance proceeds without reporting them.
They said they have asked Oslo tax authorities for a meeting in an effort to make amends for the earlier tax evasion. Much of it occurred so long ago that the statute of limitations has run out, and both say they've used up the money they'd inherited. Neither, they claim, has money in any undeclared foreign bank accounts today.
She went on to acknowledge that her situation has prompted her to seek a leave of absence from her top management job at Norsk Hydro, where she and other management colleagues recently were accused of greed stemming from lucrative options deals.
The company earlier had said the allegations against her would have no consequences on her job.
Aftenposten English Web Desk
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