The Danish Palaces and Culture Agency was defrauded of seven million kroner by Peter Bindner, the court ruled.
Event manager Peter Bindner is sentenced to three years and six months in prison and an additional fine of 28 million kroner for fraud with corona support.
In the Copenhagen City Court, a judge and two lay judges on Thursday afternoon found evidence that Peter Bindner defrauded the Danish Palaces and Culture Agency of seven million kroner.
This happened together with his collaborator, who was sentenced to the same sentence.
During the corona pandemic, the two deliberately exaggerated the costs of a series of events with a gold bus around the country. The intention was to score an unjustified profit, the court believes.
This happened, for example, at some so-called living room concerts, where musicians on the bus constantly played the Beatles hit ‘All You Need is Love’ while, among other things, balloons were inflated.
Other events with a double-decker bus during the Christmas month, where a gospel choir sang and where violin and harp were played, were also supported.
From the public coffers they received the maximum amount of support of 12 million kroner, even though there would be a maximum of five million kroner in expenses, the court estimates.
This results in a profit of seven million kroner. The prosecution had claimed that the amount was 9.2 million kroner.
The verdict emphasizes that both defendants have at least 25 years of experience in the event industry.
After a brief conversation with a defense attorney, the two convicted persons decide on the spot to appeal the verdict to the Eastern High Court. Both 63-year-old Peter Bindner and 49-year-old Eva Lindblad Pedersen want to be acquitted or at least have a milder sentence.
The additional fine of 28 million kroner is due to a particularly strict penalty, which was introduced specifically regarding corona support funds. Here, the normal fine must be multiplied by four.
In addition, the prison sentence should be doubled in special cases, the plan says.
The president of the court says that the two actually faced four years in prison, but due to the unreasonably long case processing time by the authorities, this part of the sentence has been reduced by six months.
In addition, the court has acquitted the defendants of a number of charges of attempted fraud.
ritzau
