– It is a bit too early to say too much about the content and value of them, but many of the tips are of such a nature that we will follow them up further.
Prosecutor Gjermund Hanssen told Åsted Norge on TV 2 on Monday night.
Golf got Monday morning his passport folded out in TV 2 and VG because the police need help to identify who has been in possession of the stolen identity.
The reason is that one or more perpetrators in the Lørenskog case have misused Golf’s identity to create accounts on various crypto exchanges.
These accounts are again used to create the crypto layout in the threat letter that Tom Hagen found when he returned home on 31 October 2018.
The dark web
At the same time, the police are requesting information from anyone who has come across an e-mail and a telephone number used by the perpetrators:
- [email protected]
- +47 40745668
So far, the police have succeeded in identifying three occasions where Golf’s passport, which was issued in April 2013, was sold on the dark web between January 2016 and June 2018.
– MURDER OF KILLING: Anne-Elisabeth Hagen’s husband Tom Hagen, is charged with complicity in murder. He has always denied criminal guilt. Photo: Frode Sunde / TV 2
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One month after the last sale the police know of, someone created the email address [email protected]. At the same time, in the period between 7 and 9 July 2018, it was used to register accounts on the exchange exchanges KuCoin, Binance and Huobi.
The telephone number provided by the perpetrators, +47 40745668, is not Golf’s actual number. The number was for sale as a prepaid card number from 2017, but the police believe that it was never actually sold.
In addition, Golf’s business address in Mandal is used: Store Elvegate 16A.
Three groups
Furthermore, the police know that the identity has been used to create 8-10 e-mail addresses and 10-12 telephone subscriptions that have not been used in the Hagen case. They have found three or four other Norwegian criminal cases where the identity has been abused.
– There can obviously be dark numbers, and that is one of the reasons why we now choose to go public, says police attorney Hanssen.
– EXTERNAL FACE: Prosecutor Gjermund Hanssen is leading the investigation of the Lørenskog case. Photo: Jonas Been Henriksen / TV 2
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If the police are able to identify everyone who has been in possession of the identity, the perpetrators in the Hagen case must necessarily be among the names, the police believe.
The investigation has revealed that the identity has been sold both individually and as part of ID packages with several identities.
According to the police, searches for people who may have information about the passport, e-mail address or telephone number are aimed at three groups:
- Sellers: People who have sold or shared their identity with others, and who can thus help to identify buyers.
- Buyers: People who have bought or received the identity in another way. The police emphasize that they do not need to know that they have been in contact with the passport, as it has also been sold as part of larger ID packages.
- Stores / others: Because the identity can be used for orders or purchases in shops, online stores, telecommunications companies or the like, the police encourage you to search your own registers for Golf’s identity.
– It will be of particular interest if the e-mail and telephone number are used at the same time, says police attorney Gjermund Hanssen to Åsted Norway.
– Not to be punished
The police also grant a form of amnesty to those who have bought or sold their identity. They emphasize that it is not in itself a criminal offense to be in possession of it.
– The police are pursuing a key track in a very serious case, and our focus is not to prosecute those who may contact the police. Many of the conditions will probably also be obsolete, says Hanssen.
He compares an ID theft in the Hagen case to a person who commits a less serious offense and at the same time witnesses a murder.
By way of illustration, all cases where there has so far been a suspicion of criminal use of the identity have been dropped or decided with a failure to prosecute, says the prosecutor.
At the same time, the police point out that someone may have sold or shared Golf’s identity to someone without knowing what it was to be used for.
– HEADQUARTERS: The investigation of the Lørenskog case is led by the Eastern Police District from the police station at Lørenskog. Photo: Jonas Been Henriksen / TV 2
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For them, the police describe this as “a golden opportunity to assist the police and to check themselves out of the case”.
– Everyone who has had contact with the identity, must expect to be contacted by the police in connection with the case, so here you have the opportunity to be in advance and report to the police yourself, Hanssen says.
Police: That’s why we waited
A month ago, TV 2 could tell that Kripos had sent out a similar search internally throughout police Norway.
– THE CRIME: Anne-Elisabeth Hagen disappeared from her home in Sloraveien 4 over three years ago. Photo: Daniel Sannum Lauten / TV 2
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Hanssen explains to Åsted Norway why they have not previously gone public with Golf’s identity, which they have been familiar with for more than three years.
– We have had some investigative steps we have wanted to carry out before publication. The results we have received have led to us now being able to sharpen the search and the further investigation towards the copy of this passport and the relevant telephone number, he says.
Tom Hagen is still charged with murder or complicity in murder. He has always denied any involvement with his wife’s disappearance.
Between 20 and 30 police officers in the Eastern police district and Kripos are still investigating the case for more than three years after the disappearance. The police have announced that the investigation will continue into 2022.
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