Police have filed charges against a former employee of the Gentofte municipality in the capital region who worked in the Gentofte Ejendomme property and real estate department. The former employee admitted to committing financial crimes against the municipality amounting to 1.8 million kronor, according to a statement published by the municipality.
The municipality itself discovered the fraud earlier this year, after which the municipality immediately sent the employee home and reported him to the police.
The fraud occurred in 2024, when the former employee issued 70 fake invoices to the Gentofte Ejendomme department from his own company, and then proceeded to approve those invoices and pay the amount from the municipality to his own company through his work at the municipality.
In uncovering the extent of the fraud, the Gentofte municipality reviewed more than 1,400 invoices processed by the employee, and the municipality was unable to detect fraud dating back further in time.
In a statement released by the municipality, Marie-Louise Madsen, the municipality's director of climate, environment, and technology, stated: “This is a serious matter that has come to our attention, and it is deeply regrettable that one of our employees has abused the trust placed in him by the municipality. Therefore, we have also launched a thorough investigation to ensure that we have uncovered the full extent of the fraud. Gentofte Municipality is insured against this type of crime, and the municipality has also requested that the police file a claim for damages against the employee as part of the criminal case.”.
Director of Finance and Digitalization, Mikkel Solgaard Bogsen-Müller, commented: “Unfortunately, even the strictest controls cannot prevent people from committing crimes. But doing so is inherently risky. Therefore, it is important to strike the right balance between control and resource consumption. Essentially, we and our auditors assessed that controls in the municipality of Gentofte are at an appropriate level, but a situation like this clearly warrants a review of the regulations. For this reason, we have decided to strengthen random checks in certain specific areas where it can be particularly difficult to identify all suppliers in a given region.”.
It is not yet known when the court will set a date to hear the case.
The statement has ended.
