Mayor of Farum Peter Brixtofte

1 mayor of farum

1.1 controversial financial , welfare programs
1.2 scandals
1.3 consequences

mayor of farum

for several years brixttofte mayor of farum party having had absolute majority. quite popular , farum considered successful municipality success in finding jobs unemployed, particularly immigrants. held having been example liberal politicians during national elections.

controversial financial , welfare programs

brixtofte made headlines highly untraditional sale-and-lease-back model municipality sold buildings , facilities private companies , rented them back. due various national tax issues highly advantageous both parties. scheme allowed municipality have 1 of lowest tax rates in denmark @ same time spending huge amount of money on various welfare programs. every child in school given high-end computer , elderly offered free annual trip foreign holiday destination. lot of prestigious building projects initiated such sports arena , marina out of proportion 1 expect city of size. due tax issues of sale-and-lease-back model expenses these programs largely covered taxpayers of denmark, of whom got no benefit programs. long time, legal status of scheme unclear.

scandals

in february 2002 several scandals surrounding administration revealed in media. first headlines involved exceptionally high spending in administration. claimed routinely drank luxury red wine (at cost of around $1,200 usd per bottle) on public expense account. furthermore, wine bought @ local restaurant in brixtofte shareholder. municipal employees reported charismatic mayor had on years shown increasing signs of alcoholism , established autocratic, timid climate @ town hall. council members said had attempted prevent them investigating spending.

multiple other incidents surfaced including so-called sponsor case alleging brixtofte had made deals involving municipality paying deliberate overprices welfare services bought private companies in return sponsor local football team (in brixtofte had personal interest). perhaps serious allegation accused brixtofte of having ordered secretary purposely delay payment of invoice 1 day svend petersen - friend of brixtofte - earned 325,000 dkr (57,000 usd) in compensation late payment. svend petersen has been found guilty in fraud in unrelated case. during initial investigations, several documents important case(s) mysteriously disappeared town hall.

consequences

eventually investigations resulted in 2 criminal cases being raised against brixtofte pleaded not guilty in both. on 20 june 2006 brixtofte found guilty in sponsor case (generally considered smaller of two) , sentenced jail 2 years. appealed rejected on 8 february 2007. lawyer announced appeal supreme court would, however, granted in exceptional circumstances , can affect length of sentence, not guilty verdict. appeal granted procesbevillingsnævnet on 16 august 2007.

in other legal case found guilty on 10 april 2007. sentenced additional 2 years of unconditional prison appealed right away. prosecutor appealed higher sentence. brixtofte s right hand man, leif frimand jensen, sentenced 2 years in prison, made conditional due bad health. appealed. twelve former , current councilmen charged, risked fines.

the welfare , leaseback programs got abrupt ending well. rulings made on tax issues making sale-and-lease-back model less favorable. bad media coverage of brixtofte meant investors lost faith in administration. caused collapse of various plans should have kept scheme going, such sale of building sites. on top of came increasing rent costs previous sales , municipality forced abandon extraordinary welfare programs , dramatically raise taxes. went being 1 of cheapest 1 of expensive municipalities in denmark.