Private internal reports as evidence in court: The case of Stangeskovene investigation in Norway

Abstract

Fraud examiners, financial crime specialists and counter fraud specialists are in the business of private internal investigations for their clients. In the case of Stangeskovene in Norway a verdict from Oslo District Court dated December 16, 2014, says that “investigators‟ judgments have limited evidentiary value”, and that the court has noted “three fundamental flaws in the investigation report”. While investigators nicely concluded that “the company disclosure scheme is practiced illegally” and that the investigation has “revealed violations of the Shares Act”, Oslo District Court found no violations of laws in their three rulings from November and December in 2014. On the contrary, plaintiffs lost on all accounts as they tried to push the investigation report in front of them as evidence in the cases concerning shares in Stangeskovene.