Hanne Bering Simonsen on Robert Dam

TRANSCRIPT:

The way I got to know Robert Dam was that I had a small printing business on Islands Brygge, my husband and I. And it actually did really well, this little printing business. But it had reached the point where it couldn’t expand further. We had the turnover we had, but there was no way to do more.

And then Finn told me that he knew Robert Dam. Robert Dam had previously worked with him at his brother-in-law’s company. Finn and Robert decided to start a business together.

So we went and found a new office space in Valby—a slightly larger space.

Actually, a large one, the entire ground floor of a huge building and we used half of it.

And along with that, we bought a larger printing press that fit the space. And Robert was supposed to sell all the things he had told us he would.

Time passed, and the big jobs he promised, the big clients he said he would bring in, never really materialized. In fact, none of them really came through. So it didn’t go quite as we’d expected. He wasn’t a good salesperson. He just wasn’t.

We had one employee who struggled with selling at the prices Robert had set. Robert had dictated that it should cost such and such. And of course, those numbers needed to add up to ensure profit.

But our colleague said he found it difficult. He struggled to close the deals, so Robert would say, “Let me take it.” Then Robert would step in. He would go to the client, knock 15,000 kroner off the price, and close the deal. Afterward, he’d walk around saying, “I got the job. I made it work.” But, in reality, he hadn’t made it work at all, because now there wasn’t a profit on the job, there was a loss instead. And that’s how he made things “work.” He made it work by selling things at too low a price.

That’s why we were running into problems.

He had to get his act together, roll up his sleeves like the rest of us, and actually put in the effort to make things right. It became clear he could see that. Of course, we all had to roll up our sleeves and keep going.

But he could only continue if we bought an even larger printing press. So, new printing press, larger printing press, bigger space, higher rent. Time went on, but things still didn’t get off the ground.

Then we start getting visited by the tax authorities. We just managed to pay off some bills, and then we got another overdue VAT bill. And eventually, we fell behind.

And then Finn started noticing things, things he wasn’t being told. He said to me, “I think this seems strange. There’s something not quite right.” So Finn started looking into it. And then Finn found some discrepancies in the calculations in Dam & Jessen’s account. And then found the same calculations, but with the name changed to his wife’s company.

And he could see there was a price difference. And with the price difference, it resulted in a profit for Robert and his wife because it was sold cheaper, or more expensive, or in smaller amounts, and all sorts of ways, etc. So they were the ones who made the profit, and we were actually not making anything from it.

And then Finn was furious. And I was furious because what was going on? How could Robert try to cheat his own partner? What was going on here?

So Finn took action. Finn called the accountant, and there was supposed to be a meeting with the accountant where Finn and Robert were to talk. Finn was furious. And Robert just sat there quietly. And he was just like, “What’s the matter?” There was no regret, no remorse, no apology.

And then one of the accountants said to him, “If you don’t fix this, you’re going to be wearing handcuffs. Something’s going to happen, and you’ll end up in prison.” And then Robert changed his mind. It was only when his own freedom was at risk that he realized it wasn’t such a smart move. So he agreed to fix it.

So, Robert was the one in contact with our accountant, and he was the one who knew how things were going, and they weren’t going as well as we wished.

But Robert insisted it wasn’t too bad, we just had to find a new partner, and everything would fall into place. So there was talk about bringing in new people from other companies.

But the new guy, Kaj Lund, who came into the picture, got along well with Robert. So, Kaj Lund came over for visits often. They had many discussions. And he was supposed to buy our company. But in the end, he decided not to.

If we didn’t pay our bills within a month, we’d be declared bankrupt. And that’s what happened. So Robert and I walked into the office where people were sitting at desks. A few questions were asked, like whether we could pay certain bills. If you couldn’t, they gave you a paper to sign declaring bankruptcy.

That trip was incredibly heavy and sad. It hit me hard, and I was marked by it. Robert walked beside me as if nothing had happened. I said to Robert, while we were waiting for the elevator to go down, I said to him, “This is simply the hardest day of my life.” He looked at me. He said, “It’s okay. It’s just one day. That’s how it goes.” And I just couldn’t understand it. I couldn’t understand how he could take it so lightly. I was just, what do you call it? Stunned. And we didn’t say anything else. We just went down, and drove home to the company.

And then the bankruptcy administrator came. And then everything was taken apart. We later found out that Kaj Lund hadn’t actually stopped [the purchase]. Kaj Lund had bought the bankruptcy. In other words, our company was sold for next to nothing.

So there was a reason Robert had acted that way. He’d already talked to Kaj Lund. He had already made new plans for his own future.

Robert is an unscrupulous person. That’s just who he is.

When we first looked at Robert Dam, we thought the person he presented, the one we’d start working with, seemed credible, seemed genuine, and was eager to get things done.

But over time, we saw the same Robert Dam, and we realized the persona he showed us was not real. It was fake, it was calculated, and it was selfish. And he was completely indifferent to us as his partners.

That was what really struck us, that we didn’t actually see it sooner. That he could stand there and be so fake, and we didn’t see it. That was something that really hit us hard.

So I hope, I hope he hasn’t deceived too many other people since he left our lives, because he was truly a bad person.