After four hearings, it was decided. Architect Rune Breili and former construction manager Harald Svendsen were convicted of serious corruption.
The two were sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment by the district court but acquitted by the appeals court. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court. There, the acquittal was overturned. In December 2022 the case was then heard again in the Court of Appeal.
More severe penalties
Svendsen was sentenced to 11 months in prison. In addition, NOK 30,000 is confiscated from him and he has to pay NOK 25,000 in court costs. Breili is sentenced to 9 months in prison and also has to pay NOK 25,000 in court costs.
The case that began with several cases of illegal construction in the seaside area of Tjøme was thus definitively dismissed due to corruption charges.
It is happening five and a half years after what has become known as the Tjøme case started in the media.
– Heavy process
Thomas Skjelbred defends Breili in case. He says his client takes the sentence very seriously.
– This has been an incredibly long and difficult process, he tells NRK.
Your client will be considering an appeal of the case.
– We must study the sentence and discuss it before deciding on appeal, he says.
He believes the verdict shows that the list for violating Norway’s bribery laws is very low if he stays.
– In my opinion, ordinary people should seek advice before performing friendship services or applying for relatives who hold public office. These are friendship services between two close relationships. Skjelbred believes the court sets a very low list.
So far it has not been possible to obtain a comment from Svendsen’s defender in the case, Knut Henrik Strømme.
State Attorney Henrik Horn is pleased with the outcome.
– We note that the Court of Appeal agrees with the prosecution on the question of guilt, and determines a slightly more severe sentence than that proposed by us. All in all, we are satisfied with this, she says.
Horn believes the verdict matters.
– The question of the meaning of their friendship was raised earlier. It’s something the Court of Appeals doesn’t now attach significant importance to, and something the prosecution agrees shouldn’t matter in a case like this, she says.
Busy cabin owner
The case began when NRK revealed an employee had been paid to submit planning applications that he processed himself. The employee stayed suspended for the day.
It was cabin owner Tom Ravndal who got NRK interested in the subject. He believed that there were several cases of illegal construction in the Tjøme beach area.
– They are often surrounded by ready-made lawns, fences and other obstacles that make it difficult to pass. I started wondering if this is legal.
Ravndal explained this when he contacted NRK in spring 2017.
He made use of the Public Information Act and worked his way through several hundred planning applications. Ravndal surprised that the office of architect Rune Breili almost always got the approval of the administration.
Breili at the time replied that it was because he had adjusted the projects in dialogue with the Municipality.
In the following weeks, NRK, Tønsbergs Blad and several national media covered what became known as the Tjøme building scandal.
The case has aroused a lot of interest and the municipality has received several reports on illegal building. Even the previous one Tjøme’s adviser came under criticism.
The auditing firm BDO was commissioned to investigate the case.
Indicted for corruption
The investigation report was presented in autumn 2017. Revealed serious violations of ethical rules and procedural errors, but not corruption.
According to BDO, there was no difference in the treatment of Breili and other architects.
However, in conversation with former construction manager Harald Svendsen, it emerged that he and Breili have traded favors.
Moreover Breili designed a house for Svendsen wanted to build on Tjøme. The drawings were signed by Svendsen, making it appear that Svendsen had drawn them.
The report was sent to the police, who launched an investigation into both construction issues and possible corruption. Eventually, Økokrim was also linked to the case.
Økokrim investigated the case for two years before retiring indictment against Breili and Svendsen.
At the center of the accusation were the floor plans of the house which the then head of the construction case obtained from Breili.
They both explained that it was friendly service. Rune Breili did not charge for the work and Økokrim believes Svendsen’s position in the municipality caused this corruption.
Both have consistently denied that they did anything wrong.
Absolution revoked
In April 2020, the case was brought before Vestfold District Court. There, construction department employees explained that they were told to do so approve cases that were inconsistent with the rules.
In the district court, Breili and Svendsen were sentenced to eight months in prison for serious corruption. They appealed the case. IN The two were acquitted by the Agder Court of Appeal.
The reason was that it could not be ruled out that the services were provided to the construction case manager as a private person.
During the two rounds in the courtroom it emerged that Breili too he designed a house for someone other than Svendsen, without accepting payment.
Both Breili and Svendsen have always said they were just friends helping each other out. Økokrim did not agree with this and appeal to the Supreme Court.
In June 2022 the Supreme Court annulled the acquittal. Therefore, the case returned to a new hearing in the Court of Appeal.
