The King of Farum—A Danish Corruption Tale

Abstract

With the background knowledge that Denmark is one of the least corrupt nations in the world, this article explores the case of a mayor that for eight years worked "miracles" for "his" municipality, but was later revealed to have built this community on circumvention of control mechanisms and laws. For this (and for his overwhelming consumption of expensive wines at the taxpayers' expense) he was later sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment. He was not driven by personal economic gain, but more likely of a mixture between creating a municipality of his dreams and the almost absolute power that he ended up with just before the scandal hit the headlines. The case was revealed by two journalists from a yellow newspaper, but very soon police and other authorities as well as his fellow politicians followed up on the revelations and his former political friends turned their back on him. It is not the story of a mayor that was bribedbut of a mayor that turned out to be "corrupt" in a wider sense of the word.

Both Sides of the Coin: Motives for Corruption Among Public Officials and Business Employees

“…The statements surrounding this court case seem to underline the outcome of the present study. Langsted (2012) came to very similar conclusions after studying a renowned corruption case in Denmark against ''the king of Farum.'' According to Langsted (2012), the Danish mayor who was sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment was not driven by personal economic gain.…”

“…Langsted (2012) came to very similar conclusions after studying a renowned corruption case in Denmark against ''the king of Farum.'' According to Langsted (2012), the Danish mayor who was sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment was not driven by personal economic gain. 4 The mayor stated on nationwide television that ''It is utterly absurd, I have done nothing wrong'' (Langsted 2012, p. 139).…”

“…Expected gains in economic theory are usually of a monetary nature (Coleman 1987;Pendse 2012). Decisions to engage in corrupt transactions may, however, also include non-monetary considerations, such as excitement, pleasure, or status (Huberts and Nelen 2005;Langsted 2012;Prabowo 2014). While Carrillo (2000) argues that individuals' engagement in corruption is also influenced by the size of bribes, Rabl (2011) did not find a relationship between the size of the bribe and corrupt action.…”

“…He claimed that his conviction was ''a political settlement,'' ''a miscarriage of justice'' and defended himself by stating that ''corruption and crime are alien to me'' (Graanoogst 2013). According to Langsted (2012), this is not unusual for people who engage in corruption. He states that very rarely recipients or providers of dubious gifts tend to view their behavior as corrupt.…”

Corruption risks in a mature democracy : Mechanisms of social advantage and danger zones for corruption

“…Third, even in mature democracies, scandals relating to bribery, rigged procurement contracts, the sale of public properties below market value, and decision making influenced by nepotism and conflicts of interest are reported with some regularity (e.g., Pollack et al 2018;New Zealand Herald 2017-02-23;CBC News 2016-11-18;Langsted 2012;Saemundsdóttir 2012;The Local 2010-04-30;OECD 2007;Van Den Heuvel 2005). Recurring scandals of this kind somewhat alter the image of clean, honest, and corruption-free societies.…”