Benefits fraud by Norwegian politicians in parliament: Convenience theory perspectives

The national authority Økokrim was established several decades ago to become a policing centre of excellence in the investigation and prosecution of economic and environmental crime in Norway that is especially concerned with white-collar and corporate crime. This article focusses on deterrence effects from Økokrim investigations that never lead to prosecution or conviction. The research raises the issue of the use of law enforcement publicity regarding investigations of potential offenders, often long before possible convictions. The issue is explored by the press releases from the Norwegian body. The apparent shift in strategy and practice at Økokrim might be explained by the devastating evaluation of the national authority some years ago. The evaluation was initiated after the Transocean court scandal where all defendants were acquitted of all charges. Deterrence strategy by investigations implies that Økokrim passes negative consequences on suspects who never have a chance to defend themselves in court. In jurisdictions with criminal justice, a suspect should always have the benefit of the doubt. Conviction should only occur when guilt is proven beyond any reasonable and sensible doubt. Until eventually proven guilty, a suspect is supposed to be considered innocent. This is a basic principle of justice.

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Economic Crimonology Focus

2024

Advances in Public Policy and Administration

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The purpose of this chapter is to review research articles in the Journal of Economic Criminology by application of convenience theory. While the theory covers fourteen convenience propositions, there is varying attention to them in the reviewed articles. A frequent topic in the journal articles is online romance fraud where victims were not on guard because they trusted their offenders. Trust tends to strengthen the convenience proposition addressing lack of guardianship, oversight, and control. The review is relevant as it might tell both what seems important and not important in understanding economic crime and tell what propositions in the theory of convenience that might deserve attention in future economic criminology research. The review is additionally relevant to increase substance to the theory of convenience that emerged less than a decade ago and has since been developing and applied by various scholars.

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Benefits fraud by Norwegian politicians in parliament: Convenience theory perspectives

Cited by 3 publications

References 34 publications

Impression management following investigation and prosecution scandal in Norwegian police: a review of press releases

Impression management following investigation and prosecution scandal in Norwegian police: a review of press releases

Deterrence effects despite lack of prosecution: Punishment outcomes of white-collar crime investigations in Norway

Economic Crimonology Focus

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