Geir Eriksen (born 15 May 1965), former names Geir Selvik and Geir Selvik Malthe-Sørenssen,Privatetterforsker og eks-journalist etterforskes av politiet. Nå har han byttet navn igjen
''

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...

''Tiltalte møtte ikke i retten
NRK is a Norwegian

con artist A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...

and

convicted felon A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

. He formerly worked as a

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

for criminal clients, and became known for fabricating material in the Arne Treholt case; it was subsequently revealed that he had engaged in similar fraud in a large number of other cases. He was charged with aggravated

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

and

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...

; he pled guilty to all charges and in 2018 was sentenced to three years in prison and to pay 7 million kr in

restitution The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery, in which a court orders the defendant to ''give up'' their gains to the claimant. It should be contrasted with the law of compensation, the law of loss-based recovery, in which a court o ...

.Malthe-Sørenssen møtte i retten. Erkjente straffskyld på alle punkter
/ref> As of 2021 Malthe-Sørenssen was an

inmate A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...

at Romerike Prison. He has changed his names several times, but is best known under the name Geir Selvik Malthe-Sørenssen, his legal name from 2010 to 2017. In 2021 his former wife Ida Marie Hansen published the book ''Jeg var gift med en bedrager'' (I was married to a fraudster) about the Malthe-Sørenssen case.

Career

Geir Selvik Malthe-Sørenssen grew up in

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

and started his journalistic career in the local newspaper ''

Asker og Bærums Budstikke ''Budstikka'' (The Bidding Stick), prior to 2004 known as ''Asker og Bærum Budstikke'', is a daily local newspaper published out of Billingstad in Asker, Norway. It covers the municipalities of Asker and Bærum, and is the only newspaper issued ...

''. He later worked in ''

Bergens Arbeiderblad ''Bergensavisen'' (lit. "the Bergen newspaper"), usually shortened to ''BA'', is the second largest newspaper in Bergen, Norway. The paper is published in tabloid format. The newspaper's webpage ba.no is Bergen's largest local newspaper webpage ...

'', ''

'' and ''

Se og Hør ''Se og Hør'' (; "See and Hear") is a TV guide and celebrity journalism magazine published in three independent versions in Denmark, Norway and Sweden (where it is called ''Se & Hör'' ) by the Danish company Aller Media. The Danish version is ...

'', and as an editor with ''

Nettavisen ''Nettavisen'' is a Norwegian online newspaper, launched in 1996 as the first online-only newspaper in Norway. The current editor is Gunnar Stavrum. As of 2015 it was one of Norway's most popular news websites. History The online newspaper (its l ...

'' and the TV3 television show ''Etterlyst'' ("Wanted"). He then left journalism to work as a private investigator, working on behalf of several defendants in criminal cases. He changed his name from Geir Selvik to Geir Selvik Malthe-Sørenssen in 2010, and to Geir Eriksen in 2017.Slik startet Geir Selvik Malthe-Sørenssens journalistkarriere: Mannen som i helgen ble avslørt for juks begynte å jobbe som journalist på 1980-tallet
''Journalisten''

Fraud

Treholt case

In 2010, he published a book titled ''Forfalskningen'' ("The Fabrication"), in which he alleged that the police had fabricated evidence when Arne Treholt was convicted of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

and

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

in 1985. The book was written on behalf of Treholt, and Malthe-Sørenssen was paid by Treholt for his work. The book led to much controversy and to a new evaluation of the Treholt case by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. In a 2011 ruling, the commission concluded that Malthe-Sørenssen's claims were based on fraud and turned down Treholt's request to reopen his criminal case for a fourth time. In 2016, Malthe-Sørenssen was revealed by the newspaper ''

Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...

'' to have fabricated evidence in his attempt to have Treholt's case reopened. His alleged source was revealed to be Thor Nord, a used car salesman with past convictions for murder and fraud, with no connection to Treholt, who was paid by Malthe-Sørenssen to impersonate an agent of the

Norwegian Intelligence Service The Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS) or Etterretningstjenesten (E-tjenesten) is a Norwegian military intelligence agency under the Chief of Defence and the Ministry of Defence. History Olav Njølstad says that the "stay-behind cooperation ...

.Treholt-bløffen
''

Other cases

After his fraud in the Treholt case was exposed, it came to light that Malthe-Sørenssen had engaged in similar fraud in a large number of other cases. In collaboration with Nord, he had fabricated material in an inheritance case related to prominent lawyer Mona Høiness. He had also engaged in the

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

of a Norwegian businessman by fabricating alleged evidence, also in collaboration with Nord.Bløffmakerne
'' VG''

Criminal trial

In 2015, Malthe-Sørenssen was arrested and charged with

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

. In an unrelated case that same year, he was also investigated for fraud.Geir Selvik Malthe-Sørenssen etterforskes for millionbedrageri
''

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...

'' He has also been named a suspect in a third criminal case. Malthe-Sørenssen was charged with aggravated fraud of nearly 7 million kr and of forgery of documents. His criminal trial started in

Oslo District Court Oslo District Court ( no, Oslo tingrett) is a district court located in Oslo, Norway. This court is based at the Oslo Courthouse in the city of Oslo. The court serves the entire city of Oslo and the court is subordinate to the Borgarting Court of ...

in 2018, and he pled guilty to all charges. The public prosecutor requested a prison term of four years for Malthe-Sørenssen, taking into account his guilty plea and cooperation with the prosecution.Aktor ber om fire års fengsel for Malthe-Sørenssen
/ref> On 18 June 2018 Malthe-Sørenssen was convicted of aggravated fraud and forgery of documents, and sentenced to three years in prison and to pay his victims over 7 million kr in restitution.Tidligere journalist Geir Selvik Malthe-Sørenssen er dømt til tre års fengsel
VG

Bibliography

*''Forfalskningen, politiets løgn i Treholt-saken'', Publicom, 2010

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malthe-Soerenssen, Geir Selvik 1965 births Living people 21st-century Norwegian criminals Norwegian male criminals People from Bærum Norwegian fraudsters Norwegian male writers Journalistic hoaxes Norwegian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Norway