The police found 2.2 million in a car at Voss

Two days earlier, a man is said to have been kidnapped.

The case started on the evening of March 19 this year. Then the police received a report that a man was taken into a car against his will at Melkeplassen.

The police arrived, but both the man and the car were gone. Information and findings at the scene strengthened the theory that the man had been abducted.

Several police patrols started the chase. A few hours later, on the night of Wednesday 20 March, the police found the man in a van at Trengereid.

– Not a random victim

He was unharmed and allowed to go home. Five men were arrested for the abduction. Four of them are from Lithuania, one is Norwegian. They were all imprisoned.

The police then discovered that the man who had been abducted had been deported from Norway a few years earlier. They decided that he should be arrested.

– On the night of March 21, he was stopped in a car on Voss. In the car, the patrol found NOK 2,243,450.

That is according to police prosecutor Jørgen Henriksen, who leads the investigation. Stacks of notes were found in a cloth bag.

– The money was seized and the man arrested. He has explained that he was on his way to Lithuania with the money, says Henriksen.

The police do not know if there is a connection between the money seizure and the abduction.

– It is reasonable to believe that. We believe he was not a random victim, he says.

Previously convicted

The four men from Lithuania are still in prison. The court believes that there is a danger that they may flee the country.

They are all charged with deprivation of liberty and robbery. They allegedly took a small amount of money from the man as well as car keys and a phone. They do not plead guilty, BT is told.

The Norwegian is charged with the same, but has been released. He has pleaded guilty to deprivation of liberty, according to defender Knut Erik Søvik.

The man who was abducted and taken to Voss has been imprisoned. He is also from Lithuania, and the court believes he can escape if he is released.

He has previously been convicted several times for the sale and storage of contraband alcohol and cigarettes.

Ola Sønju Bårnes defends him. BT has not been able to get in touch with him.

Henriksen says that the investigation is coming to an end. He is unsure whether the police will ever find out where the money comes from and whether there is a connection between the money and the abduction.

– He has the status of offended in the abduction case and is also charged with aggravated robbery. He has pleaded guilty to this. We believe the money originates from some form of crime, says the police attorney.

He expects that a trial may not come until the autumn. Henriksen says that the police will ask that the men remain in prison until then.