A prominent lawyer in Stavanger who’d carried on a fictitious lending operation for years has been charged with swindling friends, relatives, business associates and others for nearly NOK 800 million. Even though he killed himself in June, after his fraudulent dealings had been exposed, he was still formally charged in an attempt to formally establish blame.
Per Asle Ousdal was a respected lawyer who collected funds that he claimed he could re-lend to borrowers at very high interest rates. Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) has reported extensively on how there never were any real borrowers paying the high interest rates. Ousdal, meanwhile, bought lavish real estate, art, cars and diamonds in what his bankruptcy estate’s lawyer has characterized as a huge loan swindle.
Sales of Ousdal’s personal assets won’t be enough to meet the NOK 765 million (USD 77 million) in claims flowing in from all those who’d trusted him and provided funding for the alleged scheme. Norway’s state economic crimes unit Økokrim has now charged Ousdal after his death and no others, with Ousdal alone believed to have used companies he’d set up to handle the money while also falsifying documents and transactions. The investigation is due to continue through the autumn.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
