NORWAY
Reuters
Oslo’s prosecutor accused the Catholic Church in the Norwegian capital on Thursday of defrauding the state of 50 million crowns ($6.57 million) by falsely claiming aid.
Religious organizations can receive an annual contribution from the state, but police in Oslo say the Catholic Church there inflated congregation numbers to massively increase the amount it could claim.
The church declined to comment, and said it would release a statement later on Thursday.
“The fraud happened when they enrolled people in a register without the members actually knowing they were being enrolled in the church,” Oslo’s police prosecutor, Kristin Rusdal, told Reuters.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.