Norwegian justice ministry officials were reeling this week, after Norway’s Supreme Court ruled that existing Norwegian law doesn’t provide for punishment of suspects caught with so-called “skimming” equipment, used to copy bank cards used in automated teller machines (minibanker).
Several Bulgarian men have been arrested in recent months, after being found in possession of the equipment used to carry out fraud against the banks and their customers. The high court ruling, however, ordered they be set free because it’s not a crime at present to import skimming equipment into Norway.
Justice ministry officials, calling the legal loophole a “scandal,” reacted swiftly and claimed a new law would be proposed immediately that will make it a felony to be found in possession of skimming equipment.
“We believe, of course, that (the current law) can’t be allowed to stand,” Astri Aas-Hansen told news bureau NTB.
Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN), which broke the news about the skimming suspects and that they were being released from custody, reported that the justice ministry is working on a new measure that will be proposed in Parliament before Christmas.
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