One of Norway’s most high-profile stock brokers of the past decade, Bjørn Arne Fredrik Sellæg, has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison after what the court called the largest personal tax evasion case in the country’s history.
The Oslo City Court noted in its ruling that never before has a private person in Norway been convicted of evading as much as NOK 43 million (USD 7.6 million) in taxes. The evasion took place over a four-year period, from 2000 to 2004.
Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) reported that Sellæg’s personal consumption was described as being of “almost unreal and incomprehensible dimensions.”
Sellæg was also stripped of the right to ever work again as a stock or derivative broker in Norway, or to hold any leadership position within a company that deals with commercial paper or derivatives. He was also ordered to pay all court costs.
Sellæg’s lawyer Frode Sulland said his client would appeal. “He is both surprised and disappointed,” Sulland told newspaper Aftenposten.
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