Top officials leave PET

Sudden departure of two high-ranking board members shakes up intelligence agency

Two of the highest-ranking board members of domestic intelligence agency PET resigned with immediate effect yesterday, Ekstra Bladet tabloid reports.

National police force Rigspolitiet confirmed the departure of PET's head of the operational command, Magnus Andresen, and police inspector, Jesper Grønbech.

According to Ekstra Bladet, the two were forced to leave due to their involvement in the controversial management of the intelligence agency that last fall cost former head of PET Jakob Scharf, head of administration, Mette Lyster Knudsen, and head of staff, Jacob Benzen, their jobs.

Didn't object to former PET head
Board members Andresen and Grønbech apparently didn't object to the way Scharf led the agency and treated his staff, which reportedly was through fear and intimidation of his employees.

Their departures coincide with the release of a critical report investigating the former PET administration.

READ MORE: Former PET head cleared of wrong-doing by new employer

The report was carried out by independent consultant Cairos Consult and states that Scharf – along with Mette Lyster Knudsen and the head of the legal department, Lykke Sørensen – controlled PET by limiting the influence of the remaining board members. 

"The three remaining board members [Magnus Andresen, Jesper Grønbech and Anja Dalsgaard] do not actually function as board members, but they attend meetings with little to none influence," the report says, according to Ekstra Bladet. 

PET had no comment yesterday on the board members' departure.

Cleared of wrong-doing
Last year was a messy one for PET. In November, a group representing 600 PET employees filed a complaint alleging that the agency’s leadership, including Scharf, overspent on travel and displayed poor overall leadership.

READ MORE: New PET boss named

Scharf has since landed a new job at Rigspolitiet and just one day after his new position was announced, the same organisation cleared Scharf and other PET officials of allegations of abusing their power and exploiting travel rules. 

Scharf was replaced as the head of PET by Jens Madsen.

TOP STORIES

  • Chinese wind turbine companies sign pact to end race-to-the-bottom price war

    Chinese wind turbine companies sign pact to end race-to-the-bottom price war

    China’s 12 leading wind turbine makers have signed a pact to end a domestic price war that has seen turbines sold at below cost price in a race to corner the market and which has compromised quality and earnings in the sector.

  • Watch Novo Nordisk’s billion-kroner musical TV ad for Wegovy

    Watch Novo Nordisk’s billion-kroner musical TV ad for Wegovy

    Novo Nordisk’s TV commercial for the slimming drug Wegovy has been shown roughly 32,000 times and reached 8.8 billion US viewers since June.

  • Retention is the new attraction

    Retention is the new attraction

    Many people every year choose to move to Denmark and Denmark in turn spends a lot of money to attract and retain this international talent. Are they staying though? If they leave, do they go home or elsewhere? Looking at raw figures, we can see that Denmark is gradually becoming more international but not everyone is staying. 

  • Defence Minister: Great international interest in Danish military technology

    Defence Minister: Great international interest in Danish military technology

    Denmark’s Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen attended the Association of the Unites States Army’s annual expo in Washington DC from 14 to 16 October, together with some 20 Danish leading defence companies, where he says Danish drone technology attracted significant attention.

  • Doctors request opioids in smaller packs as over-prescription wakes abuse concerns

    Doctors request opioids in smaller packs as over-prescription wakes abuse concerns

    Doctors, pharmacies and politicians have voiced concern that the pharmaceutical industry’s inability to supply opioid prescriptions in smaller packets, and the resulting over-prescription of addictive morphine pills, could spur levels of opioid abuse in Denmark.

  • Housing in Copenhagen – it runs in the family

    Housing in Copenhagen – it runs in the family

    Residents of cooperative housing associations in Copenhagen and in Frederiksberg distribute vacant housing to their own family members to a large extent. More than one in six residents have either parents, siblings, adult children or other close family living in the same cooperative housing association.

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Sign up here

Career

  • Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    On Friday 27 and Saturday 28 of September, The Copenhagen Post will be at International Citizen Days in Øksnehallen on Vesterbro, Copenhagen. Admission is free and thousands of internationals are expected to attend

  • Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Chisom Udeze, the founder of Diversify – a global organization that works at the intersection of inclusion, democracy, freedom, climate sustainability, justice, and belonging – shares how struggling to find a community in Norway motivated her to build a Nordic-wide professional network. We also hear from Dr. Poornima Luthra, Associate Professor at CBS, about how to address bias in the workplace.

  • Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality, home to Denmark’s largest infrastructure project – the Fehmarnbelt tunnel connection to Germany – has launched a new jobseeker support package for the accompanying partners of international employees in the area. The job-to-partner package offers free tailored sessions on finding a job and starting a personal business.

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Contact us

Jobs