Economy and business, Bankruptcy | Stops processing of Friele bankruptcy

The companies of the three riches Edgar Haugen, Einar Jørgen Greve and Knut Stokke are behind a joint lawsuit against the company of coffee heir Berent Friele: Neutrum Holding.

The three all gave loans to Friele and his company in 2021. Since the loan has not been repaid, they filed for bankruptcy against the holding company of the former chairman of Kaffehuset Friele.

Filed bankruptcy

Berent Friele has already been declared personally bankrupt by Bjørn Hanevik. As part of the bankruptcy sale, the Friele villa in Hjellestad was sold for NOK 50 million.

A court hearing on the bankruptcy case against Neutrum Holding AS was scheduled for 6 May. But shortly before the meeting, it was cancelled.

Friele’s money problems

Friele’s payment problems stem from the fact that he, together with his business partner David Kendrick, invested over 300 million in a project partly financed by the UN organization Unops.
The plan was to build over a million houses in developing countries with the help of new technology.
DN has previously written in detail about how the Bergen resident became involved in a project that went completely wrong. Still no houses have been built, and the scandal led to the resignation of former minister Grete Faremo as head of Unops.
Berent Friele brought in so-called to pay interest on their investments.
One of the lenders, Bjørn Hanevik, filed both a police report and a bankruptcy petition. It ended with Friele being declared personally bankrupt earlier this year.
The case has also affected farmer Blomsterdalen farmer Sigurd Birkeland, who is claimed to have put up his farm as a guarantee for Friele’s loan. This led to some of Friele’s creditors taking legal action against him.

Reason: The District Court believes that the ongoing estate proceedings against Friele personally must be allowed to take their course in peace.

– It is appropriate that the estate proceedings take longer before a decision is taken on the bankruptcy petition in this case, writes deputy judge Hanna Lundeberg Raanes in a recent ruling.

Trustee Bjørn Åge Hamre is now in the process of obtaining an overview of the situation for the crisis-stricken business community.

The court therefore believes that this work must go further.

– This particularly applies to the trustee’s work in obtaining an overview of, securing and realizing the assets Friele has – and especially the assets that are linked to Neutrum Holding AS, the ruling states.

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