The former manager is accused of taking ISK 26 million (EUR 164,000) from the publicly-owned company and he faces up to six years in prison.

According to the charges, which were handed to the defendant just before the new year, the deductions began in November 2003 and carried on until September 2008. The accused was at the time manager of the Reykjavík Energy horticulture department; which deals with selling heat and electricity to geothermal greenhouse operators.

The former horticulture manager is accused of having given out 58 ungrounded invoices over the five year period. In many cases he is accused of personally producing documentation, receiving the invoices and granting payment on behalf of Reykjavík Energy.

He is not, however, accused of stealing the money for his own use. During most of the five year period in question, the manager was also the chairman of the Icelandic Horticulturists’ Association and the money he took, according to the charge sheet, was used to pay the wages of two women who were employed as directors of the horticulturists’ association. One of them received ISK 11 million of the money between 2003 and 2005; while the other got ISK 14 million between 2006 and 2008. Neither of the women is accused of any wrongdoing, RÚV reports.

The man in question was sacked from his job in autumn 2008, when the case first came to the attention of police. The case later transferred to the special prosecutor when his office merged with the police economic crimes unit.

Reykjavík Energy is demanding all the money back from the accused, with interest; while the special prosecutor is calling on the courts to make him pay all legal costs and serve up to six years in gaol, if found guilty.

Reykjavík Energy is deeply indebted and needed to be bailed out by the City of Reykjavík. It is a private company whose shares are entirely owned by local governments (mostly the City of Reykjavík). Its mandate is to serve the people of the capital region; but it was liberalised by politicians to such an extent that it was able to participate fully in the speculative investment and borrowing of the boom years, fully backed by an unsuspecting public. More on that story here and here.

The 46 year-old was sentenced to four years behind bars for aggravated fraud and benefit crimes, having received around SEK 2.4 million (EUR 266,000) between 2003 and 2010, supposedly for the girl’s care.

The case only came to light when the girl, now 18, ran away from her home in Malmö earlier in the year and reported her father for making threats against her. She had been kept away from society since she was seven, with her father claiming she could only communicate through noises and body language.

The man was found to have lied to the local authorities and to the National Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) to bag payments of SEK 25,000 (EUR 2,767) a week. His daughter was originally diagnosed with severe learning disabilities and autism, although tests since her escape have proved that she has a high level of mental capacity.

The teenager has now been placed in a youth home, while her father continues to assert that she is mentally ill.

On Saturday Helsinki District Court also allowed the seizure of Esa Laiho’s EUR 600,000 property so a search can be carried out.

The so-called pseudo doctor, who is suspected of aggravated forgery and aggravated fraud, has worked in geriatric care all across the country over the past decade. He could face up to four years behind bars if he is found guilty of the charges.

Laiho, who made no attempt to cover his face as he entered the court room, claims he studied at Ross University in the USA and received qualification papers from St Petersburg. Police inspector Hannu Mannikko, however, says the papers must be forged as doctors are not allowed to practice after just a few years of education.

According to The City newspaper, the case only came to light after the 18 year-old girl, who has been in isolation since the age of seven, fled the family home and reported her father for making threats.

The man has been claiming more than SEK 25,000 (EUR 2,768) a week for taking care of the girl who was classed as an infantile, only able to express herself through body language and sounds. An investigation by social services, however, has since concluded that she has a high level of functionality.

It is now expected that the father will face charges of aggravated fraud and benefits crimes at Malmo District Court. It is thought that he instructed his daughter, who has never been to school, about how to act in front of doctors and psychiatrists.

The tax service Skat has revealed that 593 of the 1,170 citizens with known affiliations to either the Hell’s Angels or the Bandidos have raked in DKK 29.6 (EUR 3.9 million) in sick and disability pay and cash benefits in just the first six months of this year.

Speaking to tabloid BT, Vagn Pdersen from Skat’s gang unit said he was not surprised by the figures. “In our experience, we can see when we are out investigating them that bikers aren’t interested in getting jobs,” he said. “It’s generally the kind of macho culture where they like to show off, but at the same time they’re not afraid to ask for public help. So, if we can see that they have other valuables, like cars, motorcycles or big gold chains, then these welfare benefits are one of the places where, with the help of the councils, we can stop the money from flowing,” Pedersen added.

The agency, which is working with the majority of Denmark’s councils in a bid to unearth the extent of welfare fraud across the country, estimates that criminal gangs have claimed more than DKK 47.6 million (EUR 6.4 million) in benefits so far this year.

“If you take their age and sex into account, there is no doubt that they are overrepresented [on the welfare lists] in comparison with the general population,” sociologist and Justice Ministry researcher Christian Klement told BT. He added that 27 percent of gang members are on welfare compared to just eight percent of the general population.

“One explanation is that bikers, in particular, exploit social systems. But I believe that the primary reason is that these people are simply socio-economically disadvantaged,” Klement said. “We know very well that where you have socio-economically disadvantaged people, you typically have a larger proportion of criminals.”

Earlier this year, Thorning-Schmidt was forced to cut her holiday short and return to Denmark after BT newspaper published a series of articles alleging that the couple were not paying enough tax.

In question was the amount of time Kinnock spends in Denmark each year, his foreign-earned income and the pair’s Copenhagen home. Speaking to broadcaster DR this week, however, the couple’s accountant said his clients would be cleared of any wrongdoing in the forthcoming decision from the Skat tax authority.

It was alleged that for a significant period, Mr Kinnock, who is the son of former UK Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock, was not paying any taxes in either Denmark or the United Kingdom.

The accountant, however, said that Skat found Mr Kinnock did not have to pay taxes in Denmark between 2007 and 2009. During this time, Mr Kinnock was paying taxes in both Britain and Switzerland while working for the British Council and the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, where he is still employed.

Thorning-Schmidt, who is campaigning to become Denmark’s next prime minister, has not yet commented on the announcement.

Thordarson told RUV that the whole affair has been a serious blow to staff morale and the department as a whole and that counsellors have been called in to console distressed tax workers. “We have (also) had many meetings, both internally and with others, and we believe that we will have a better and stronger tax administration following this case,” Thordarson said.

Police custody of the former employee in question, granted by magistrates, was yesterday extended for a further two weeks. Six individuals are being held over the case: two women and four men. Over 20 people are working on the investigation.

The case centres on two limited companies which are registered to five of the six in custody. The companies had the money paid out from the state in so-called input VAT due to the construction of two new buildings. The buildings were, however, never erected and the two companies appear to have never been engaged in any business activities at all.

The tax authority employee is implicated in the case because he received all paperwork from the companies and input them into the system and no neutral tax worker would presumably have done so without asking some pressing questions.

Police have conducted ten house searches as part of the case and the Reykjavik District Court remand the six people in custody for one or two weeks each before trial.

The most popular complaint is that users’ pictures and profile information are being ripped off in order to set up bogus accounts. Once a new online persona has been created, the mischievous meddlers post embarrassing statements that appear to be from the unwitting real-life user.

Another reported misdemeanour is apparently being perpetuated by lonely men with low self-esteem. “These men have taken a picture from the profile of someone who is more handsome than they are, and used it to get in touch with women. However, there are fewer of these,” said Kortelainen in a report by Helsingin Sanomat.

Kortelainen claims that although a few Facebook fibbers have been caught, the police are limited in their ability to pick up the pranksters. “We can approach the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to ask for help from California, where the community’s server is located, but that is just theoretical,” said Kortelainen.

Under US legislation, information about internet service users is not automatically available unless the crime they are suspected of amounts to more than defamation. Whether posting embarrassing statements in someone else’s name amounts to a crime at all seems to be a legal grey area.

Kortelainen has advised the nation’s Facebook users to keep their security settings as tight as possible and to think twice about who they add as a friend.

The country’s Insurance Agency has, however, asked the biker to reimburse the money, after examining material from Nilsson’s various police reports and court convictions. During the course of his activities, Nilsson had committed crimes that “can scarcely be viewed as compatible with the work capacity and medical scenario” outlined in his benefits application, according to the agency.

Nilsson, for example, has been convicted of smuggling alcohol from northern Sweden to Germany, despite claiming that his back and neck problems prevent him from enduring long car journeys. According to Expressen, during his booze run, Nilsson also helped load up a vehicle with large quantities of spirits, wine and beer.

Nilsson must pay the money back by August 28 in order to avoid being charged additional interest.