Herman
J Berge
Doktor Holms vei 17 D
N-0787
Phone (Pr) : +47 22 14 56 52
E-mail : herman.berge@rettsnorge.no
Mr.
Ole Kristian Aabo-Evensen
N-0122
Att :
Mr. Aabo-Evensen
Re : The
estate of the late Mr. Einar Riis, 44 blvd d’Italie, 98000
Case
# :
Your
reference : oka
Our
reference :
Posting
by : E-mail
Your
fax # :
Numbers
of pages : 6
Attachment :
Copy : Aabo-Evensen law firm, Me Didier Escaut,
Notary Me Henry Rey (by fax), Mr. Varlet (by fax),
Mrs. Amelia Riis (through e-mail to Benedicte
Riis-Duryea), Mrs. Benedicte Riis-Duryea and Mr.
Kenneth Riis.
Sirs and
Mrs
This is a
respond to Mr. Ole Kristian Aabo-Evensen’s, attorney
at law (
Yesterday
I made a request through both Mr. Aabo-Evensen and Me
Didier Escaut, asking for consent to speak freely
about matters that both Mr. and Mrs. Riis has made confidential.
Mr
Aabo-Evensen’s answer in his e-mail of
Since it
seems that Mr. Aabo-Evensen in some way or other is
representing some or all of the heirs of the estate in Monaco – this in
contradiction to information I have received from Me Didier Escaut
(Monaco) and Mr. Kenneth Riis – I find it proper to send this e-mail in copy to
Me Didier Escaut, together with copies to Me Henry Rey (Notary), the Riis-family, and Mr. Varlet (BNP Paribas).
I find it
quite confusing[1]
receiving letters/faxes from Mr. Kenneth Riis stating that he’s the one to be
addressed in this case, then receiving a different message from Me Escaut stating that he’s the family’s legal representative,
then receiving a new fax from Mr. Kenneth Riis stating that 1.) Me Escaut is only Mrs. Riis’ representative (Thus the estate
doesn’t have any representative but me, this in accordance with Mr. Einar Riis’ will, and I underline what everyone in this
case know by heart: This was his will and determination, and the reason why he
and his wife years ago signed all the papers advising this). 2.) That all
correspondence should be sent to him, no matter what case we are talking about,
it seems, and 3.) That I have to stop sending harassing letters (invoices. I
have never harassed Mrs. Riis. She’s the only person according to our
agreements that can receive invoices from me) to Mrs. Riis, and now finally an
e-mail from Mr. Aabo-Evensen informing me that all
correspondence in this case should go to either Mr. Aabo-Evensen
or to Me Escaut.
I advice
the family and the lawyers to decide upon who is the one to take care of claims
against the estate in Monaco, and who is to take care of claims against Mrs.
Riis, and who is to take care of their two children’s rights and obligations.
By this we will be able to correspond in a somewhat acceptable manner, avoiding
delays, misunderstandings and other mess concerning these cases and their
grounds. When this is done, I would appreciate to be informed.
It should
be known that Mr. Aabo-Evensen has given me three to
five days to answer his criminal threat; either you wave all your rights in the
estate after the late Mr. Riis, or we will raise criminal and civil charges
against you, anywhere. This threat is, though sadly, similar to the one I got
from Me Didier Escaut earlier this fall. Such a
threat could of course lead to investigation and criminal charges against the
instigator. Regarding the deadline I have been given, vaguely said to be three
or five days, observed in the light of the content of the e-mail, can’t be
taken seriously.
Though Mr.
Aabo-Evensen’s e-mail doesn’t deserve an answer – especially by the sole reason
of his language together with the mere fact that he hasn’t at all provided
himself with relevant facts as he is obliged to as an attorney at law, this in
addition to the fact that according to Norwegian law he should never had
accepted the Riis-families attempt to engage him in this case in the first
place – I feel obligated to give a proper preliminary answer, in a decent and
civilized manner (though to the point when needed) this in contrary to Mr.
Aabo-Evensen’s rather rude and undisciplined attempt to bully his anger and
alleged claims against me by threatening to us the legal system and its laws if
I refuse to give in for his unfounded and speculative demands.
I take it
for granted that you will understand that at this point it is not possible for
me to in a matter of days give a thoroughly answer on Mr. Aabo-Evensens
blunt effort to get me to wave all my legal rights.
I will be
overseas for a period of five weeks. This means that all correspondence should
be e-mailed to me in this period. When I’m back I will have my first meeting
with my lawyer in
My trip
overseas has been planned (as Mrs. Riis know) a long time before this problem
occurred, and therefore it should not be held against me that I am trying to
delay the dividing of the estate.
For the
record I will provide you with a few important facts that can help the family
to understand their own problem:
1.
Mrs. Amelia Riis has together with
her husband Mr. Einar Riis, authored and signed all
our agreements.
a.
Now stating that these agreements
are unfounded, worthless, null and void, etc. will at the same time mean that I
for a period of nine years have been severely mislead and defrauded by this
family, in particular by Mrs Riis.
2.
Mr. Aabo-Evensen
states that he is basing his arguments and statements on Mr. Kenneth Riis’
arguments and statements. It should be known by now that Mr. Kenneth Riis’
understanding and comprehension of the little he know about the facts in this
matter is at the best very modest and therefore should be counted as
insufficient (which any lawyer on an early stage of considering a matter should
realize) for such a conclusion that I am a “conman”, and that I have spent 6
years trying to con a flat broke family, and then after I made the deal between
the Department of Justice and the family, spending another three years to con
them a little bit more by investing my working hours, besides spending almost NOK 1 million of my own money to make myself able to
continue the families fight for their rights.
a.
I do have sufficient documentation
that will prove that the con-theory of course is not true, that this is Mr. Aabo-Evensens own thoughts sadly though based on his own
anger against me. Stating such an unfounded accusation will of course lead to
adequate reactions which of now known causes must be dealt with later on.
3.
It should be mentioned, in an
attempt to get you to understand Mr. Aabo-Evensen’s rude and defaming attack on
me, that Mr. Aabo-Evensen has spent some time in and
outside the courts getting the judges to accept two of his witnesses and by
their statements seeking the court’s verdict on that – of all things – he
doesn’t like me, allegedly having solid reasons for this statement. This
particular court case also clearly shows how easy Mr. Aabo-Evensen
looses his focus on the case and his obligations towards his clients, trying
his best to get me instead of concentrating on the case. The judge in this
mentioned court case was to decide upon whether Mr. Aabo-Evensens
legal fees towards Mrs. Riis was acceptable, not whether he liked me or not. Mr.
Aabo-Evensen’s struggle to get an emotional non-measurable verdict was by
understandable legal reasons rejected by the court, and his fees were reduced
by a half.
a.
It should be considered beyond
doubt that Mr. Aabo-Evensen’s sole reason to accept this engagement was – in
some sad way or other – to get even with me. His reasons is as far as he has
told me and Mr. Einar Riis, that he wasn’t mentioned
– or not enough compared to me – in the TV-news and in the newspapers at the
time of the judgement in the “Probate case”, and at the time of the settlement
in the same case in June 2003. He was according to himself the best and he was
determined to be the only lawyer in Norway winning for the Riis-family
(forgetting that Mr. Tore S. Engelschiøn won one huge
victory for the family in 1981, besides other earlier though few victories),
and I seemed to have destroyed his seek for fame and glory by letting the media
interviewing me and by solving the case for the family with a €7 million
settlement. In contradiction to Mr. Aabo-Evensen’s statements in his latest
correspondence with me, he told a newspaper in 2001 that there wouldn’t be a
case without Mr. Berge’s work.
b.
Another reason for Mr.
Aabo-Evensen’s extreme dislike against me is the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Riis
filed a criminal charge against one of the most powerful people in
c.
I do have sufficient information
satisfactory for a rejection of Mr. Aabo-Evensen as a
representative for the Riis-family. He is too involved in the case, ha has
personal problems blaming the Riis-family for his family problems and divorce
(he wept in court (on the witness stand) until I had to stop him by slamming my
hand to the table to snap him out of it, as I knew from times when we were
friendly to each other where he revealed to me that this (weeping before the
judges) was just his way of trying to get sympathy from the judge. I was told
that sympathy is more important than facts. He cannot act as a legal
representative under these circumstances. I will though – if it still is
necessary – come back to you with a more precise argumentation (together with
verifications on my statements) upon this subject in question in my answer in
February 07.
4.
I have tapes where Mrs. Amelia
Riis is stating that she as soon as Mr. Riis had got his speech back after his
second – and this time serious stroke, made a run for the typewriter to type a
transfer of NOK one million to his children. He was
in delirium and thought he had seen his mother, and since he felt that the end
was near, he wanted to give some money to his children. Mrs. Riis made it clear
to me that she did this as fast as she could, by this avoiding Mr. Riis never
ending second thoughts which she knew would come when he recovered. Mrs. Riis was
by this somewhat disturbing action obviously not afraid of Mr. Riis passing
away (she and her children would have got their share within a short time), but
of Mr. Riis going into a long and ongoing coma, leaving her or her children
waiting for the big bucks that was brought to Monaco. My point is to show Mrs.
Riis willingness to wait until her husband was at his weakest before she went
to work with her mission to take advantage of his poor health.
a.
I do have – on top of all the
letters and other documents – hours of conversations between me and the
Riis-family on tape, which will prove my diligent and fair work for the family
on top of all my sacrifices. This was Mr. Riis’ own idea, to tape everything,
thus avoiding misunderstandings and so forth. It will also prove that what has
been told to lawyers and others about the relationship in the family, and
especially between family-members is not quite as it appears.
5.
Be aware of the fact that it is
Mrs. Amelia Riis (of course with Mr. Riis’ knowledge and consent) that has made
most of the payments to me. I find it hard to believe that a lawyer that
obviously should have known such an important fact still concludes that the
estate of the late Mr. Riis should be in their right to kind of vindicate these
sums that Mrs. Riis has paid according to our agreements.
6.
There are a lot of accusations on
criminal conduct made against me in Mr. Aabo-Evensen’s e-mail. These
accusations will of course as mentioned be taken care of in due time.
7.
I find it proper to mention that I
have on tape in several conversations with Mrs. Riis, her stating that she was
forced by Mr. Aabo-Evensen to make several statements
in a Press Release of
a.
In these conversations Mrs. Riis
made it clear to me that I had to stay put – since she was (as she put it) very
afraid of Mr. Aabo-Evensen and what he could do to
her and me – and not open my mouth to the press or anyone else, otherwise Mr. Aabo-Evensen had told her that he would go after me,
pressing charges against me.
b.
This was one of the main reasons
why Mrs. Riis signed this Press Release, authored by Mr. Aabo-Evensen,
and by this settled the case. The statements in the Press Release as well as
the settlement will in any court be considered as short of legal grounds. Mr.
Aabo-Evensen’s actions forcing Mrs. Riis to sign, on top of making her paying a
higher amount than the verdict described, will in any normal cases be
considered criminal.
c.
Most of the Press Release must be
regarded as a vendetta against me and Mrs. Riis late husband, Mr. Riis, which
for 15 years had been living a double life though known for the whole family
and also accepted by them. Mrs. Riis son was not at all happy with his mother’s
actions settling the case with Mr. Aabo-Evensen
paying a lot more than she was obliged to according to a verdict, which made
him and his sister thinking of claiming their heir after their father from her,
right away.
d.
In conflict with Norwegian law,
Mr. Aabo-Evensen made an appointment and held a three
hour long meeting with my (at the time) client Mr. Riis on
e.
Mr. Aabo-Evensen
was in such a hurry to get a settlement with Mrs. Riis, that he simply forgot
the most important thing – to write an agreement. A sensible lawyer would of
course never forget such an important part of an agreement, the written paper. He
flatly authored a letter for Mrs. Riis, telling the court that they had reached
an agreement. About what, now one knows.
f.
For all I know it was Mr. Aabo-Evensen himself that wilfully started all these
problems in his meeting with Mrs. Riis on August 17, 2006, ending up where we
are now, orchestrated with the mission to get his hands on the family and their
fortune, and most important for him; get a chance to get even with me. Reading
the Press Release and listening to the tapes, this is not a farfetched
assumption.
g.
These totally unacceptable actions
conducted by Mr. Aabo-Evensen are one of the reasons
why Mr. Aabo-Evensen should not be allowed to
represent the family. I am quite sure that Mr. Aabo-Evensen
has been – especially as a lawyer – aware of this fact and its contradiction to
the picture of an objective and independent lawyer without any connection to
the case and the persons that could e.g. lead him into the witness stand, or
further down the road could lead to civil or even criminal charges against
himself.
h.
Mr. Aabo-Evensen
has by violating Norwegian law now got hold of information that he otherwise
wouldn’t had access to. It seems that he intends to do his best misusing this
information, and by such comforting himself without a thought about the
Riis-family and their fall if he continues with his vendetta.
8.
As far as I know there is a chance
of a conflict occurring between Mrs. Riis and at least one of her children.
This means that according to Norwegian law it will not be feasible for any
lawyer to represent the whole family as such in this case. This fact should be
known or should have been known to Mr. Aabo-Evensen
before he made up his mind going after me for his own reasons.
9.
I will not in this document go
deeper into Mr. Aabo-Evensen’s numerous conflict of interest-problem occurring
by accepting the Riis-family’s proposal, but I do urge him to have a look on “Domstolloven”, and “forskrift til domstolloven”, especially
chapter 11.
10. Regarding
the Norwegian company,
11. Finally
I have also on tape Mr. Aabo-Evensen (in an other
case between Mr. Aabo-Evensen and the Riis family)
totally loosing it during a court case, screaming so loudly to me acting like
he was on the verge to knock me down there and then. It was right out
frightening. In this tape you can also hear Mrs. Riis slamming her hand to the
table while in tears telling the judge that she had had it regarding the maltreatment
of me and her family, finalising the scene (and the case) by walking out of the
court.
12. Mr.
Riis advised me a long time ago to take care of my rights, by e.g. making
notes, and recording everything. And so I did. He sure had his reasons. He
didn’t trust anyone in his family, besides Benedicte.
Long before I met the family, Mr. Riis was totally convinced that his son and Mrs.
Riis had sunk his boat twice. He also accused his wife of stealing important
documents from him, and of making threatening calls to his mistress (she would
be killed if she didn’t move out of
13. This
as for anything else mentioned above will of course be elaborated when needed.
I’ll end
this letter by underlining that I will by no means wave any rights in this
case, and that the Riis family and their representatives in due time after my
meeting with my lawyer will be informed about our next step.
Sincerely
--------------------
Herman J
Berge