Liv Løberg, who held several top administrative posts in the public sector over the past 10 years, must serve 14 months in prison after an appeals court found no grounds to alter an earlier sentence handed down by a city court in Oslo.
Løberg was found guilty of violating the public trust after she was found guilty of forging her credentials for a long string of top jobs at both the state and local levels. She had been in charge of certifying the credentials of foreign health care officials, ironically enough, when her own hoax was revealed two years ago.
Løberg, now age 62, must serve nine months in prison while the other five months were suspended. She also must repay NOK 1 million in salary to which was not entitled.
The appeals court ruled it was important to hand Løberg a relatively harsh sentence for having lied for years about her education and her professional background. Her fraud, the judges noted, violated the trust of those employing her, her colleagues and those who had competed against her for the jobs she secured by “cheating.” Løberg had admitted to embellishing her resumé, but claimed she had been tempted to do so after applying for more than 200 jobs and failing to get them.
newsinenglish.no staff
