Man indicted for fraud against Witzøe family company
A man in his 50s is accused of having persuaded Gustav Witzøe, through the company Kvarv, to pay out loans of more than NOK 1.2 million.
Published
According to Norway's TV 2 channel, a man from Nordmøre has been charged with several counts of aggravated fraud and document forgery, including against Gustav Witzøe, founder and chairman of salmon farming giant SalMar, which owns half of Scottish Sea Farms.
Over a two-year period, the man in his 50s is said to have convinced Witzøe's family company Kvarv to disburse loans of more than 1.2 million kroner.
The man denies the charges.
"He has not pleaded guilty to the charges, and we will return to the case in court," writes Elden law firm in an email to TV 2.
Several charges of fraud
The man is charged with three counts of document forgery where, in correspondence with the Witzøe company Kvarv, he has posed as both a lawyer and a representative of an insurance company.
The defendant is also alleged to have committed three additional cases of aggravated fraud, pretending to have a large fortune and getting several people to transfer money that he was supposed to invest for them.
The money was to be repaid using insurance money that the now accused man was waiting for, according to the indictment issued by State Prosecutor Magne Nyborg in Møre and Romsdal.
Must remain in custody
The Nordmøre man was arrested by the police in January 2024 and remanded in custody.
The imprisonment order from the Frostating Court of Appeal from March last year states that the prosecution believed it was important to continue the imprisonment due to the risk of evidence being lost.
"It appears that the accused has presented himself as a well-off man with great wealth and assets. The police investigation so far has not revealed that this is correct. His reputational loss is considered to be great and it is considered likely that upon release he will contact witnesses in the case and seek to rebuild this image and try to persuade the victims to believe him," the police attorney explained.
Among many other companies, Kvarv AS owns majority stakes in aquaculture supplier ScaleAQ, and fish vaccination company Maskon AS.
