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Oslo fraudster convicted of 102 crimes

The Local Norway
The Local Norway - [email protected]
Oslo fraudster convicted of 102 crimes
Louis Vuitton's Oslo store. Photo: Vegard Grøtt / NTB scanpix

A man in Oslo has been convicted of no fewer than 102 offences, after he defrauded 34 people, most of them physically or mentally disabled.

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The 28-year-old used information collected in his work as a care assistant to steal his clients’ identities, taking out fraudulent loans, mobile subscriptions, and credit accounts in their names,  totalling 1.7 million Norwegian kroner ($220,000). He then used the money to buy luxury items. 
 
An Oslo court on Friday convicted him of: one incident of gross embezzlement, 22 identity thefts, 66 cases of serious fraud, eight attempts at gross fraud, one grand larceny, three incidents of selling stolen goods, and one incident of giving false personal information. 
 
“This is the largest identity theft case we have ever worked on,” said Roar Kvassheim, a specialist in ID theft at the Oslo Police. 
 
When police raided the man’s house last year, they found it crammed with handbags, watches, sunglasses, wallets, belts, clothes and other luxury goods made by brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Rolex and Burberry. They also found approximately 80 mobile phones with subscriptions. 
 
"The motive for the offences was that he loved expensive clothes and objects and liked to look good, as well as gambling debts,” the court ruled. “He did not given any thought for those who were exposed to is id thefts or scams.” 
 
The man, who has previous convictions in both Sweden and Norway, was sentenced on Friday to three years and five months in prison. 

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