Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Corruption in Norway

General Sverre Diesen, Chief of Royal Norwegian Armed Forces


Minister must act on corruption in the military

Several members of Parliament's Defense Committee believe that the new corruption charges are demoralizing to Norway's military and demand the Defense Minister take action.

"Very high ranking military officers are now charged with corruption, and this is so demoralizing for the armed forces that we cannot tolerate it. Now the Defense Minister must get a grip on the Defense Chief so that he can get his troops in order," Per Ove Width (Progress Party) of the Defense Committee told NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting).

Socialist Left Party defense politician Bjørn Jacobsen agreed that the breaking corruption controversy is a sad burden for the military.

"I am not going to get into what some individuals received or didn't receive. This is a scandal involving millions (of kroner). The Defense cannot come to Parliament and whine for more money before they clear up their financial mess, and the likely culture of corruption that has at least been in place previously," Jacobsen told NRK.

The head of Joint Defense Operations Headquarters (FOHK), vice-admiral Jan Reksten, was one of the top brass police descended upon on Tuesday.

Reksten said in a press release that he took part in a golfing trip to Alicante, Spain in 2004 that was sponsored by Siemens, but he was unaware of the funding before April 2007.

Siemens Business Services of Oslo was ordered Friday to pay a fine of NOK 9 million (USD 1.6 million) for defrauding the Norwegian military through overbilling.

"(Special economic crime force) Økokrim is investigating the matter and today confiscated relevant documents. The seizure is due to suspicions that I have benefited from Siemens' sponsorship of the event. I was at the time unaware that Siemens was the sponsor. I am being investigated for having received improper benefits worth a total of NOK 6,000 (USD 1100)," Reksten said.

Reksten said that the golfing trip took place during his holiday, with friends and colleagues, where he paid for his own flight and other expenses, but thought that cheap accommodation had been arranged via friends.

Økokrim has reportedly found receipts at Siemens totaling NOK 150,000 for hotel expenses in connection with two such trips, according to newspaper VG.

District attorney Geir Kavlie at Økokrim confirmed that the corruption operation was a reaction to the findings of the governmental Dalseide Commission, which found various forms of bribery of Defense staff related to IT contracts. Kavlie also said that not all of these were connected to the Siemens case.



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