Former Norwegian industry chief sentenced to five years for corruption

Stein Lier-Hansen, the former head of the Norwegian employers’ organisation Norsk Industri, was sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday for gross corruption and gross economic infidelity, Dagbladet reports.

The 71-year-old partially confessed to economic infidelity when the trial began in Oslo District Court in mid-January but denied the gross corruption charges brought by Norway’s white-collar crime unit Økokrim.

The court also ordered Lier-Hansen to pay Norsk Industri 10.5 million kroner in damages. The verdict emphasised that Lier-Hansen held “extremely high trust” because of his position and personality and exploited it to have the organisation pay for his leisure activities and set up a system to channel money to himself.

The court agreed with the prosecution that Lier-Hansen displayed a wholly exceptional criminal intent throughout the indictment period from 2014 to 2023. The prosecution had sought a sentence of five years and five months and 12 million kroner in compensation.

Two other men were convicted of aiding gross economic infidelity by issuing fictitious invoices to Norsk Industri worth about 1.1 million and 1.8 million kroner respectively. One of them was also convicted of gross money laundering. They received prison sentences of 11 months and one year.

Lier-Hansen’s defence lawyer, Petter Mandt, said he and his client would review the verdict before deciding on next steps.

The case originated from an E24 investigation in February 2024 that uncovered Lier-Hansen’s use of private flights to fishing lakes and hunting areas, hundreds of restaurant visits with journalists and business partners, and billing the employer for trips with participants who either were not present or had already covered their own costs. The prosecution alleged the employer was improperly charged up to 10.1 million kroner.

According to the indictment, former Fellesforbundet leader Jørn Eggum was listed as a guest on 232 restaurant bills Lier-Hansen sought reimbursement for, but Eggum testified he had only attended a few of those occasions. Journalist Bjørn Haugan was also called as a witness but refused to testify despite a 60,000 kroner fine.