A security camera’s photo of a woman posing as a wealthy customer of Nordea Bank has given Oslo police hopes for finding the last of three suspects in what may rank as Norway’s biggest bank fraud case ever.
News of the fraud started emerging earlier this month, several weeks after the woman and one of Nordea’s own employees arranged, with the help of another bank employee, authority to transfer funds from the wealthy customer’s account.
She and the two bank employees arranged the transfer authority (fullmakt, similar to a power of attorney) at Nordea Bank’s Tveita branch in Oslo on July 20. Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) reported that the wealthy woman’s account was later emptied of NOK 89.2 million (about USD 15 million), prompting Nordea to report the suspected fraud to the police on August 5.
The two bank employees have since been arrested, although one denies having anything to do with the fraud. The woman posing as the wealthy customer remains at large.
Nordea has covered the losses to its customer, so is itself the victim of the fraud. Both bank employees are being held in protective custody, charged with defrauding the bank of around NOK 90 million.
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