Over 12 million went from a foundation to charitable causes such as home help for the disabled and chronically ill and measures for children and young people from disadvantaged homes.

Dagens Næringsliv is among those who have written about Storting President Olemic Thommessen's (H) desire to gain control of several hundred million kroner after the designer Maria Bjørnson. What no one has taken up yet, and as Ny Tid can now reveal, are the following consequences of Thommessen's lawsuit to get the money out of Guernsey and create a new foundation: Children's hospitals, the disabled, the chronically ill, the elderly in need of care and activity measures for children in the UK no longer support from the foundation. All this emerges as a result of the meticulous work of a musical-producing corruption hunter and his journey into a forgotten story of money struggles and tax havens.

Millions in tax havens. In an account in Guernsey's tax haven stands many millions of untouched dollars. According to Dagens Næringsliv, it is probably over 200 million. Money from this account used to go to a number of charities – but now only the Butterfield bank at Guernsey is enjoying the value. The money comes from stage and costume designer Maria Bjørnson, Bjørnststar Bjørnson's great-grandson. Among other things, she had great success in London in setting up the musical Phantom of the Opera in the late 1980s. The money she earned, she put into funds that would go to charity. Maria Bjørnson wanted the money to go to theater and performing arts, but also to refugees, vulnerable children and the sick. Her mother was a refugee from Romania during World War II. After Bjørnson made a lot of money as a result of his success The phantom of the opera, she got help from her corporate opinion and her father's lawyer friend in Norway Olemic Thommessen to set up The Mischca Trust fund in Guernsey tax haven in 1987. In 2001, Maria Bjørnson formed a foundation, Mia Trust, which sent money to charities every year. The Mia Trust Foundation received all of its money from the main fund, The Mischca Trust. Mia Trust distributed all the sums that were received annually from the main fund. In December 2002, Maria Bjørnson died, but the money continued to go out of the foundation every year until 2006. The payments for the charitable causes were put to an end when Olemic Thommessen went to trial. Thommessen got the costs of the trial of Christopher Moore as well as Robert and Olivia Temple. All three live in England and were friends of Maria Bjørnson.

Went to disabled children. In an office in Oslo sits the corruption hunter and the creator of the musical Corruption – The Musical Nigel Iyer. He has worked for several years to uncover and prevent corruption, embezzlement and that money ends up in tax havens. Among other things, Iyer has found that before the trial of Olemic Thommessen, money went from Maria Bjørnson and her Mia Trust to, among others, The Princess Royal Trust for Carers in the UK. This is an organization that offers home help to the elderly, the disabled and the chronically ill. The Princess Royal Trust for Carers received more than one million kroner in 2003, 1,3 million kroner in 2004, 1,3 million kroner in 2005 and finally 1,3 million kroner in 2010, when the foundation ran out of money and was dissolved. Another charitable organization that received money was Great Ormond Street Hospital, a hospital for children in the United Kingdom. They received around 200 kroner in support in 000.

Nigel Iyer began by going into the story and legacy of Maria Bjørnson in 2010. “The motivation comes from within. In the thousands of documents I've reviewed, I saw a genuine desire by Maria Bjørnson to help people. But a few years after her death, this process stops. Call me naive, but my wish is for the money to start flowing out again from Guernsey, where it now looks like the money is frozen, ”says Iyer.

Supported British culture. In addition to giving money to children's hospitals and home care for the elderly and disabled, Maria Bjørnsons charity Mia Trust gave money for a variety of cultural purposes. The theater The Young Vic, which aims to cultivate young talent, received NOK 2,5 million over two years. Documents from the annual report to Mia Trust show that they had decided to give Young Vic another 7,5 million, but that due to the Thommessen trial, they never received this money. David Lan is a director at The Young Vic Company. "This is surprising, and we are obviously interested in the money we would get from the Mia Trust," says Lan. "It will mean a lot to the work we do and to our projects." Among other things, money from Maria Bjørnson was used to renovate a theater room at Young Vic, and the hall was named after her.

Thommessen wants a Norwegian cultural fund. When Olemic Thommessen founded the Mischca Trust Fund at Guernsey in 1987, he worked as a lawyer at Lillehammer. Today he is the Storting President for the Right.

Money from the Mia Trust went to a number of charities in the UK. What do you think about the money for these purposes stopped after the trial in 2006 and 2009, Thommessen started?
“I am not aware of these allocations, but I do not see any allocations justifying how the Guernsey Trust is managed. My case is based on a number of factors, which unfortunately characterize the type of financial management found in tax havens – where banks and management companies profit heavily from funds under their control. "

You mentioned earlier that you want the money in the Mischca Trust, now located at Guernsey, to go to charity and cultural purposes. Where do you want this money to go and for what purposes?
"It's too early to say anything about. The funds will be used for charitable purposes – but whether this will be in Norway or England, I do not know yet. What I had to have influence over is the goal of establishing a foundation in Norway that will provide support for cultural purposes, among other things. ”

Previously, money from the Mia Trust went to several charities in the UK. Is your idea that the money will continue to go to the UK?
"Some of the funds will do it, but what proportion is it too early to say something about."

What is the situation for the judicial process now?
“I am awaiting clarifications related to investigations and tax matters before the case can be finally settled. I expect this to take time, ”says the Storting President.

«Maria did not want the money for Norway ”. Ny Tid has been in contact with several in the circle around Maria Bjørnson in London who express concern that the legacy of Bjørnson will go to places she herself did not want. Nigel Iyer says that he has spent several hundred hours reviewing Bjørnson's history and documents about her funds and foundations.

What do you think about the money that went to charity stopped because of Olemic Thommessen's lawsuit?

"I don't think it was Thommessen's intention for this money to stop. I think he is a good man with good intentions who respects his relative Maria Bjørnson. But from what I can see, the consequences of his lawsuit in 2006 and 2009 are that the money for charity stopped, ”says Iyer.

Is there anything in your research and investigation that suggests that Maria Bjørnson wanted her money to go to Norway?

"I haven't found anything to suggest it. I asked Thommessen, and he hasn't said anything to me that might indicate this. I don't think Maria wanted anything to go to Norway – then she would have set up a foundation or fund. She had already formed charitable IFAS and Mia Trust. Based on this, you could say there was a precedent on who she wanted to give to, "he says, adding:

«I agree with Thommessen that it's crazy to have the money locked in Guernsey. Such sites will only keep the money, pay no or very little interest, and will drain the funds, including administrative costs. I also agree with Thommessen that the right thing is to do something with the money and get them to go where Mary wanted,» says Iyer.

In addition to writing musicals, Iyer owns and operates the company Hibis in Oslo. Hibis, among other things, is investigating and uncovering fraud and corruption. He has also written several books and articles on corruption, fraud and tax havens, and he regularly teaches at business schools and universities in Norway and the United Kingdom.

Unclear what happens to the money. Mia Trust was dissolved in 2011 when they no longer got any money to distribute. The last donation and the rest of the fund was distributed in 2010. What happens to the 200 million kroner in the main fund Mischa Trust, which is now locked on Guernsey, is unknown. Nigel Iyer wants to help people stop putting money into tax havens. In addition, he wants to do something about money that should have gone to charity to stay in such places:

“These are very important principles. I would have liked to give in to charity. But I think that if I use my skills and get Olemic with me, we may be able to make a much bigger contribution than just money in a fundraiser. Both I and Olemic believe that the large sums in tax havens should go to charity and better causes, "says the author, and continues:

“The problem is the laws and people who protect the values ​​of tax havens. We are not just talking about the legacy of Maria Bjørnson. We're talking about billions of dollars invested in foundations and foundations in tax havens, where the owner of the money is dead and the money goes nowhere anymore, ”he says. “This problem is huge, and someone has to point it out and do something about it. Here Olemic is good on the team. He can say that he did not know that the money was stopped. He can correct this mistake now. If he admits he has made a mistake and shows a willingness to fix things, he can also set a standard other Norwegians can follow. ”

Olemic Thommessen himself elaborates on what drives him in the battle for the legacy of Maria Bjørnson.

You have previously stated that the measures you have taken in connection with the Mischa Trust have not been of personal benefit to you. What is your vision, what do you want to achieve?
“When I took up this case, it was primarily because the Mischca Trust refused to make payments to Maria Bjørnson's foster-mother. Then I became acquainted with how the management company managed the Mischca Trust, and found several factors that I think are worthy of criticism and which give revenue to the manager rather than to the purposes. My goal is to have at least some of the money transferred to Norway, and to create an ideal foundation to be used especially in the cultural field – which was, after all, Maria Bjørnson's field, ”says Olemic Thommessen.

Stopped money to the Red Cross

The Red Cross also stopped incoming funds, but gave up collecting the money since they have no opportunity to stand still in court.

Court documents from the Guernsey tax haven of 2009 also state that the Red Cross was set up as one of four to receive money from the big fund The Mischca Trust. The other three were The International Foundation for Arts and Sciences (which in turn donated money to The Mia Trust), Maria Bjørnson herself and her mother. The mother died in 2004. Thus, the Red Cross remained the only recipient of money from The Mishca Trust. Furthermore, the court documents from 2009 show that a lawsuit was started between Olemic Thommessen and the Red Cross, where the Thommessen did not want the Red Cross to receive money from the fund.

The Red Cross was also in the picture and believed they were set up as a recipient of the Mischca Trust. Could it be relevant for you to consider whether the Red Cross should receive any of the resources of the Mischca Trust, Olemic Thommessen?
“The Red Cross actively supported my initiative and was a long time in the negotiations that preceded the planned trial. The Red Cross has the principle not to go to court, so they were not willing at some point to go ahead, ”says Thommessen. The Guernsey court documents show that the Red Cross was interested in receiving money that they were set up to inherit, but that they withdrew from the trial. Yuri Shafarenko from the Red Cross International tells:

"We confirm that the International Committee of the Red Cross never received money from the Mischca Trust and that the Red Cross decided to withdraw from the process a few years ago."

Guernsey court documents show that the Red Cross withdrew from the lawsuit and gave up claiming the money because, as an organization, they are not allowed to participate in litigation and litigation involving money claims. The case documents state that the lawsuit was between the Red Cross International and Olemic Thommessen.