Insurance fraud: Scandinavian Star
The ferry Scandinavian Star caught fire on the night of April 7, 1990, 159 people lost their lives in the fire. The fire was arson by unknown and the authorities quickly agreed, that one of the passengers was found guilty.
It quickly came to light that a fire had been started on board the Scandinavian Star at least 3 times and when the designated patsy had died after the fire at 2.00 am, the cause of the fire was quickly clarified: Insurance fraud.
The politicians were pressured by the shipping association, as Denmark is a maritime nation, a real prosecution against a shipping company for the premeditated murder of 159 people would be a disaster for the shipping companies' image.
The captain and the patsy shipowner were convicted in 1993 of violating the Ship Safety Act. They received the then most severe punishment of six months' "hæfte".
Today:
Politicians have repeatedly refused to determine who was behind the fire on the Scandinavian Star.
The Danish parliament decided in 1997 that the case should be closed as unresolved, and this decision has been repeatedly maintained by the parliament since then.
This even though it has long been established that the ship was overinsured by the real owner of the ship SeaEscape.
Politicians today must have good relations with the shipping companies and their predecessors as politicians in the parliament
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