<
https://danwatch.dk/en/forged-papers-and-a-fake-company-how-russian-businessman-cheats-danish-authorities/>
"On a Monday morning in September 2024, an alarming email lands in the inbox of
the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority.
The email is from an insurer from Ghana who has been asked to investigate a
potential Norwegian partner for a customer. Before the customer signs his
contract, he wants to make sure that the Norwegian company is legitimate, so
the insurer attaches a document he has received in the email to the Norwegian
authority.
“Something wasn’t right and I couldn’t put my finger on what it was,” says the
Ghanaian insurance man, who doesn’t want to be named for risk of losing his
job. “Maybe I was just following my instincts”.
At the Financial Supervisory Authority in Oslo, the authorities quickly realize
that something seems strange. The document, which bears both the FSA logo and
stamp, confirms the company’s permits and license and on the surface looks
genuine. Yet something is not quite right.
The paper is dated April 2016, but no company was at that time registered in
Norway with the name given. The document refers to laws that do not exist in
the Norwegian legal system. And the person signing on behalf of the FSA has
never worked there––and may not even exist.
It’s all made up.
Extensive research, freedom of information requests and leaked documents
obtained by
Danwatch and
NRK shows that the document is fake.
The fraudulent Norwegian company is called Ro Marine AS. On the surface it
appears to be an insurance company that issues statutory certificates for oil
ships and merchant vessels.
But in reality, the company is nothing more than an empty shell with no
operations, no financial statements and no employees––apart from a Bulgarian
board member and the Russian sole owner, Andrey Mochalin. A 41-year-old Russian
businessman who has worked in the insurance industry in Norway for many years
but now lives in Saint Petersburg.
Ro Marine has nevertheless issued hundreds of certificates and papers to a wide
range of large oil vessels, many of which belong to Russia’s shadow fleet.
Experts say the company undermines the entire international system for
preventing oil disasters."
Via Matthias Vos and Christoph S.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
