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Denmark police receive 456 reports of fraud from the corona relief fund

The National Unit for Special Crime has received 456 reports of fraud from the corona relief packages since 1st April 2020, according to a press release from the Money Laundering Secretariat (Hvidvasksekretariatet).

Published: 15 May 2022 18:17 CEST

Mobilepay App photographed on Thursday, January 24, 2019.

Illustration photo of the Mobilepay App. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

The frauds and attempted frauds amount to 212 million kroner, although some of the scams were discovered before the fraudsters got the money. More than 28 million kroner has been recovered through 102 recovery operations.

According to Jørgen Andersen, deputy police inspector and head of the Money Laundering Secretariat, the task has been taken “very seriously” in the secretariat since the introduction of corona relief packages.

“And it has had a high priority with us as authorities. But also with the notifiers – here primarily banks and the accountants – and we sat down together quite quickly in a community.

“Here, we organised the effort in such a way that when banks and auditors sent notifications to us where there was a suspicion of misuse of schemes, we typically sent them within 24 hours to the authorities who paid money on these schemes”, Andersen says.

Companies or individuals should contact the Money Laundering Secretariat (Hvidvasksekretariatet) if they suspect money laundering or terrorist financing.

In October 2020, an eight-billion kroner stimulus package was agreed in parliament to help Danish businesses and cultural institutions hit by the coronavirus crisis.

The financial package also included a liquidity fund totalling 28 million kroner.

READ ALSO: Denmark announces new coronavirus relief for businesses and culture

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What happens if you don't pay a bill in Denmark?

What happens when you have a bill?

Usually, if you have a bill in Denmark (or receive a fine like a parking or speeding ticket), you will receive an invoice (faktura, also known as a regning or ‘bill’) either digitally or via post. This will include details such as the amount owed, who to pay and the date payment is due (betalingsdato or forfaldsdato).

If you don’t pay the invoice on time, the person you owe money to will initially send you a rykker or reminder. This can be sent from days to weeks after the original payment date has passed, and will often be accompanied by a rykkergebyr or late payment fee, for the a relatively small amount of 100 kroner. Up to three of these can be sent.

If you pay a bill after the due date but before a rykker reaches you, there are usually no further consequences.

If you still don’t pay after receiving these reminders, the creditor may turn the case over to inkasso, or a debt collection agency, who will again send you an invoice for payment, plus the agency’s fee – likely to be considerably higher than the late payment fee from the creditor.

It’s also worth keeping in mind other consequences of not paying bills – for example, a landlord may be able to cancel your rental contract if you do not pay rent within a given time. This will be stated in the contract.

What happens next?

If this invoice goes unpaid, the courts may eventually get involved.

If you don’t pay after the debt has been sent to an inkasso agency, you will be summoned to the fogedret, essentially a court for settling debts between individuals and businesses. The summons is usually delivered via e-Boks, the secure digital post system used in Denmark. Fogedret courts come under the district court system, so there will be one local to where you live.

At the court, you will be required to agree on a new payment system with the creditor. This could cost more than the original invoice because the creditor’s costs are accounted for.

The final step of this process allows the creditor to forcibly recover your debt through any assets you might have, like a house or car. These can eventually be confiscated and auctioned under the court’s authority if the debt is not paid off under the agreed schedule.

Denmark’s debt collection agency (Gældsstyrelsen) can meanwhile make deductions from your salary if you have unserviced debts to the state.

If you cannot agree a payment schedule and do not have any possession against which the debt may be recovered, you may be able to declare insolvency.

The RKI register

RKI is Denmark’s national register of people who have defaulted debts. Every big company subscribes to this register, which is important because it can make it harder to be approved for a mortgage or other loan, a rented apartment, credit card, or even a phone contract or fuel discount card.

You can check whether you are on Denmark’s RKI register by visiting the dininfo.dk website and logging in using your MitID digital ID.

Can I do anything to be removed from the RKI?

RKI registrations last for a standard five years per defaulted debt – so after this time, you may no longer appear on the register. Additionally, if you agree a payment schedule with a creditor, you may be able to include removal from the RKI register as part of this agreement.

Sources: dingaeld.dk, borger.dk

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