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The 65-year-old former employee of the National Board of Social Services has been sentenced for defrauding her employer and spending the money on luxury for herself and three adult children.

It was a gross fraud when Britta Nielsen spent a total of DKK 117 million over 25 years from her workplace, Socialstyrelsen, on herself.

This was the verdict in the Copenhagen City Court on February 18, 2020. She was sentenced to six and a half years in prison, which she immediately accepted.

In its decision, the court emphasized, among other things, that Britta Nielsen made a total of 298 transfers to herself during a long time, that the amount she took was very large and that the money was intended for projects for vulnerable and disadvantaged citizens. In doing so, she abused her public position, the court states.

The court did not attach importance to the fact that the National Board of Health and Welfare's control of payments was deficient. Britta Nielsen and her defender had argued that it should be a mitigating circumstance that the control measures at work were insufficient, making it easy to swindle.