Equity investments have halved the party’s coffers, and now the board and the former chief financial officer are at odds over who is responsible for the losses, he writes. NRK.
Blame the former CFO
President Johan Morten Nome blames Tommy Balestad, who was previously in charge of the party’s finances. Nomi claims that Balestad exceeded his authority and transferred NOK 349,000 to an offshore brokerage firm to buy the shares. The agreement was originally for NOK 50,000 to buy shares and NOK 300,000 to save. Investments in Flyr and XXL failed, and the remaining shares are now worth less than NOK 20,000.
– Unfortunately, we noticed that the then CFO of the Board, Tommy Balestad, exceeded his powers and transferred NOK 349,000 to an offshore brokerage firm for equity investments. The issue is simply that he exceeded the powers conferred upon him by the Council. Johan Morten Nome says he took a very big risk for NRK.
XXL volume is down 67.62 percent in a year, while Flyr was forced to file for bankruptcy earlier this year, as it was unable to raise enough capital.
Allegations that the Board of Directors is responsible
Balestad, who has now left the People’s Party in favor of the Industry and Business Party, claims he only followed the board’s decision on the equity investments. He claims that the board of directors was responsible for the decision, and that it only implemented what was decided.
– It is true that it was I who came up with the proposal that the People’s Party of Vestfold and Telemark should invest in shares, and a decision was made by the Board of Directors that this should be done.
– As CFO, I only implemented what was decided by the Board of Directors. They now blame me for stock investments not going ahead as planned, Tommy Balestad tells NRK.
Campaign hits
President Nom does not hide the fact that these stings, and that the money that has disappeared on the stock exchange has consequences for the election campaign.
– We receive NOK 400,000 annually in government subsidies. Loss of 300,000 strong strikes to us. This is public money.
– It gives us limited space for the election campaign, which starts now, and places limits on the amount of activity we can do, says Johan Morten Nom.
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