Businessman jailed over fish farm fraud

Sixty-one year old Bjørn-Arild Woll, who has been under investigation for some time, was found guilty of the offences at Oslo District Court. He faced a total of 17 charges of fraud.

It was claimed he took investors for total of 6.5 million kroner (£500,000) over a three year period starting in 2017.

It was a time when many new fish farms projects were on the launch pad in Norway, attracting large numbers of investors. The prosecution told the court the schemes had been systematic and targeted vulnerable people.

Woll was detained, and had to be brought to court from Italy by the state, after missing his initial trial appearance.

The court heard that he created and maintained a delusion among investors through personal contact, meetings and ongoing updates about projects such as the trout farm which did not exist.

It was also said he provided incorrect information on a number of financial matters including company values, partners, returns and tax deductions.

In several cases, the information was passed on between investors, which the court believed Woll was aware of and exploited.

In his defence, Woll had repeatedly denied criminal liability. His defence lawyer maintained that the charges were too severe and that investors knew the risk they were taking at the time.

Wolf was also permanently banned from engaging in future business activities.

He later told the Norwegian salmon news website iLaks.no that he intended to appeal the verdict, claiming the issues raised in court were more complicated than had been presented.