The Se & Hør trial continued Friday and it's looking more and more incrimination for the three editors in chief who have pleaded not guilty.
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Let's sum up very briefly.
The three editors-in-chief, Henrik Qvortrup, Per Ingdal (interim) and Kim Henningsen have claimed that they sort of did know a little bit about the credit-card source, but not the details and it really wasn't that big a deal, and the source was hardly important and certainly not that unusual.
Friday, three witnesses for the prosecution were called in.
Two former junior editors, who pleaded guilty and now have received their sentences, Lise Bondesen and Kim Bretow.
And the former head of accountants higher up the Aller publishing house, Henrik Armbjørner.
- He was sacked after an internal investigation by Aller when the scandal was revealed.
The two junior editors said that not only did Henrik Qvortrup and Kim Henningsen know about the source, they were enthusiastic and considered the source very important indeed.
Per Ingdal, who was an interrim editor-in-chief and not that much physically present at Se & Hør, also knew about the source but was kept very much in dark about the details, for fear of him terminating the co-operation with the source.
When Kim Henningsen took over he continued the co-operation with the source, despite at one point being ordered from above to stop.
And this is where the former head of accountants come in.
Because the source received a
fixed monthly income from Se & Hør, of 10.000 DKK a month - as the only source.
But in 2009 the refunds to journalists paying their sources with money was stopped by Aller.
The payment to the source now had to be camouflaged, not only from the management higher up in Aller, but also the IRS (taxes). So instead of money the source received a mixture of odd dinner, travels to Thailand paid and refunds for in one case at least tennis lessons and so on. An amount for at at least 430.000 DKK - which is a considerable sum in DK, especially tax-free! (it amounts to a full yearly income for a skilled employee, including vacation, pension and so on). - Not bad for an insignificant source, eh?
The head of accountants voiced his concern on several occasions to Kim Henningsen, but nevertheless continued covering up the expenses. Without telling the brass higher up. (Which IMO is no doubt the main reason why he was sacked).
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- So as I see it All three former editors-in-chief are in trouble! Per Ingdal, perhaps less so, but he did not put a permanent end to what went on and he
was informed about the source, and he must have known the info was illegal - but it appears to me he did a see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
Henrik Qvortrup is in trouble because as the intelligent man he is, he was fully responsible for hiring and using the source and for cracking down on any concerns voiced by those under him. He started the whole thing and put it into system.
Kim Henningsen is even more in trouble!. Because not only did he continue using the source, he may even have stepped up using the source. While at the same time ignoring an order from above to terminate the source and keeping what he did secret from his superiors.