The former Chairman of Kaupthing Bank, Sigurdur Einarsson, is now on the wanted list of the international police co-operation bureau, Interpol.
After failing to acquiesce to Special Prosecutor Olafur Thor Hauksson’s request to come home to Iceland for intrrogation, the prosecutor requested and received an arrest warrant yesterday from the Reykjavik District Court.
Einarsson’s Wanted-poster on the Interpol website states that he is wanted for counterfeiting/forgery and fraud.
Einarsson told Icelandic media over the phone from London that he has no intention of returning to Iceland unforced, adding that the arrests so far have been based on no credible evidence and are just being carried out to appease public anger.
If arrested in the UK, the courts there will have to decide whether or not to deport him to Iceland.
Ingolfur Helgason, the former Director of Kaupthing Iceland, and Steingrimur Karason, former CEO of the bank’s risk management department, were both arrested today upon arriving back in Iceland. They went straight to interrogation with the Special Prosecutor and are being held in police cells.
Helgason and Karason were both very near the top of the Kaupthing chain-of-command and worked closely with former Director, Hreidar Mar Sigurdsson and Sigurdur Einarsson, the former Chairman of the Board. It is not yet known whether the Special Prosecutor will allow the pair to be released, or if he will request that the Reykjavik District Court remand them in custody, as happened with Sigurdsson and Magnus Gudmundsson (former CEO of Kaupthing Luxembourg), Visir.is reports.
Hreidar Mar Sigurdsson and Magnus Gudmundsson were arrested last Friday and remain in the Litla Hraun prison; but Sigurdur Einarsson has not obeyed the Special Prosecutor’s summons to return to Iceland for interrogation this Friday – despite a promise that he would not be arrested upon arrival. He has, however, invited the Special Prosecutor, Olafur Thor Hauksson to fly out and interrogate him in the UK.
After the state announced that it was going to take over 75% of Glitnir it was clear that Stodir/FL Group, the largest owner of the bank would go under. It had been clear for some time that Baugur, Stodir/FL Group’s owner was in a bad shape financially. This created an immense problem for two funds owned by Glitnir, Fund 1 and Fund 9, as their more than 50% of their total assets were in Baugur and Stodir/FL Group.
At a board meeting at Glitnir it was decided that the bank would buy all the Stodir/FL Group shares from the funds. Larus Welding, CEO says in the report that he had met with Geir Haarde and Arni Mathiesen about this, as it was known that the state would becoming an owner of the bank at the time.
In a phone call with Geir, “Geir had said that this was a difficult issue but indicated, “yes, I suppose this has to be done”. Arni had not objected. The shares were bought for 10.7 billion ISK.
Larus also says that “Tryggvi Thor Herbertsson had sat with us earlier in the day and so had Illugi Gunnarsson, a board-member in these funds. Illugi emphasized strongly that this should be solved, so this was approved by the board and done.”
Geir said to the committee that he thought Larus was introducing the issue to himself and Arni but not looking for approval or denial, and to examine if they had any objections. Geir admits that “If we had said no we don’t want this at all, then I suppose they would have though this over.”
A few days earlier, the management of Glitnir bought 33 billions ISK worth of shares from the fund. Three days after, the resolution committee took over.
This is from the report, translated from Vb.is.
I urge you to read this from one year ago and ask yourself how long can somebody like Illugi hide within Althing without answering for his part in this and blatantly misleading voters?
Vilhjálmur Bjarnason, a lector at the University of Iceland, dismisses Icelandic tycoon Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson’s letter of apology which was published in Fréttabladid on Wednesday, as denial and justification.
From the report, Ossur Skarphedinsson described a government meeting with Halldor J. Kristjansson, Sigurjon Th. Arnason and Bjorgolfur Thor from Landsbankinn.
“They came to introduce to us some “great offer”. And he (Bjorgolfur) sat there in his fine suit, a real “seller” and selling something where they were supposed to get Glitnir free and a lot of other things and then all the currency reserve and some “guarantee” as well. Halldor Kristjansson sat there like a beaten dog and didn’t comment much. Then the meeting was over. Sigurjon was there, there were pastries on the tables, cut in half, big pastries. Sigurjon a large man has a big mouth and when they were leaving, he got one of the pastries, stuffed it in one part in his face and said, “I don’t believe in this, I don’t believe in this”. Then a hand with a gold-watch came and pulled him out of there.”
Konrad Jonsson just attempted this monumental task as you can see in these videos:
Hopefully he will continue to enact events from the report for us in the coming weeks.
Below is a list of those politicians, investors and bankers who have accepted responsibility for their part in the economic crash in Iceland after the publishing of the Special Investigation Committee’s Report.
1. Bjorgolfur Thor apologized to the Icelandic nation in an open letter in Frettabladid April 14, 2010.
The investigative committee of Iceland’s Althingi parliament has sent many cases on to the state prosecutor. Many of those are already under investigation. These include allegations that the banks’ annual reports were deliberately distorted, loans to connected parties were abnormal and that stock market investment funds were operating outside the law. There is also reason to believe that bank staff are guilty of market manipulation.
The investigation committee was obliged to inform the state prosecutor of any issues it felt constituted illegal activity – committee members handed over their findings to the prosecutor yesterday. The state prosecutor’s job is to establish which cases require full investigation and then send them on to Olafur Thor Hauksson, the Special Prosecutor hired specifically to deal with the banking crisis. Hauksson and his team are already aware of many of the issues raised in the Althingi report, State Prosecutor Bjorn L. Bergsson told RUV. He added that the Special Prosecutor will be glad of the report for the new information it contains.
Among the more worrying findings of the report is that all three of the banks held much more that 10 percent of their own shares – the legal maximum. In September 2008, Kaupthing held 42 percent of its own shares and its London branch appears to have been operating outside the control of both Kaupthing’s internal and external auditors.
Bergsson said that the report brings to light several important issues which need urgent investigative action and added that statements will follow to outline those investigations within weeks.
Icelandic dancers Hoskuldur Thor Jonsson and Margret Horn Johannesdottir from Hafnarfjordur won four silver medals in the 11-years-and-younger category at the children’s dance competition held in Blackpoo, UK this week.
The Blackpool competition is one of the world’s best-known children’s dancing events and last week’s event was the 53rd time it has been held. The Icelandic pair won their medals in classical ballroom, cha cha cha, the Waltz and in South American dance, Visir.is reports.
Olafur Thor Hauksson, Iceland’s Special Prosecutor looking into the banking crisis, believes his team will complete its first investigations before the end of the month.
Hauksson said when the first stage is completed decisions can then be made about prosecutions. He said that the different issues being investigated are all at different stages and would not be drawn on which cases have come the farthest.
“We are set to close some cases this month, but that is only very provisional,” Hauksson told Visir.is. He added that all too often, prosecutors are at the end of a case and then suddenly find they need more time. But the information available today suggests that the end of April is a fair target, Hauksson says.
It is unlikely anything important will happen in the Icesave issue before British elections take place this spring. That is the opinion of Icelandic Independence Party leader Bjarni Benediktsson following London meetings with three British parliamentary committees. He added that it is still extremely unclear what will come next in the trilateral dispute.
Icelandic delegates of the Althingi foreign affairs committee have been meeting in London this week in London with the British parliament’s foreign affairs and finance committees, as well as the UK-Iceland co-operation committee.
The purpose of the meetings was to broaden understanding of the varying points-of-view on Icesave in both countries and to improve personal tied between the parliaments of the two countries.
Committee head Arni Thor Sigurdsson told RUV that he and his colleagues had experienced lots of goodwill towards Iceland during their visit to London. Meanwhile, Bjarni Benediktsson said he got the impression the parliament in the UK seems to be pulling back from the Icesave issue and said that all three committees the Icelanders met believed that nothing will happen before the General Election due for 6th May.
Leading Iceland restaurant, Domo, has been ‘cooking up a storm’ with both the locals and food critics since it opened its doors in 2006. Domo always keeps up to its own high standards and has done so this year by introducing a brand new delicious 2010 menu.
Domo is ideally located in the heart of downtown Reykjavik and labeled as the “kitchen without boundaries”. The fresh fish and sushi restaurant is one of Reykjavik’s finest, serving a variety of pure Icelandic sushi, depending on the catch of the day, as well as serving other delicacies and delights.
The new Domo 2010 menu continues in the style of an Asian/French inspired a la carte menu for those seeking an exotic yet classic dish. Domo also continues to offer guests its fine selection of 90 different wines and the extensive whiskey collection that the restaurant has been well known for over the years.
Head chef Bjorn Thor Baldursson also created a dedicated sushi and sashimi menu, as well as a special sushi-tasting menu designed for two people to indulge in, offering spicy tuna rolls, soft shell crabs and mixed sushi platters.
To view the exquisite 2010 menu and to make table reservations visit www.domo.is
The Icelandic government’s economic advisor Tryggvi Thor Herbertsson, on a leave from his post as CEO of Askar Capital Investment Bank and two years after his whitewash report on the Icelandic economy with Columbia professor Mishkin, with some interesting promises to the BBC on October 4, 2008.
What happened next? The Independence Party’s voters elected Tryggvi as an Althingi MP.
Also in the beginning, a certain someone who says he tried to warn everyone about the impending disaster.
And Hannes Smarason of FL Group fame personal debts to Landsbankinn amount to half the IceSave amount owed to the Brits and the Dutch according to the latest calculations. Of course without proper collateral or what?
Iceland’s new coastguard ship, which is being built in Chile, was damaged in the tsunami caused by this week’s devastating earthquake.
The Icelandic Coastguard website describes how a 2.5 metre tsunami breached the dry dock the ship, Thor, is currently in. It swept away the ship’s support struts, leaving the boat listing at a 30 degree angle.
It is also thought a significant amount of seawater got into the engine room – which will have caused severe damage, Visir.is reports. The delays caused by the damage to both ship and shipyard will mean it is many moths before Thor is seaworthy again.
The construction of the ship was in its closing stages and it had been hoped it could sail to Iceland in June; but this will definitely not happen now.
Six Icelandic and Danish specialists in Chile to oversee the final setup and configuration of the boat are now preparing to return to Europe.
One of the biggest operations of the Icelandic special prosecutor into the banking collapse took place this week in Luxembourg.
Special Prosecutor Olafur Thor Hauksson’s team has, among others, been involved in searching the premises of Kaupthing Luxembourg.
The investigation centres on trade in Kaupthing shares, as well as debt insurance.
As well as being one of the Special Prosecutor’s biggest operations to date, it is also thought to be one of Luxembourg’s biggest financial investigations to date.
Hauksson took a five person team to Luxembourg on Sunday and worked personally on the investigation with local police. House searches began on Tuesday and included the five Icelanders and 40 Luxembourg police officers. Two buildings formerly used by Kaupthing were raided and questioning only came to a close last night.
Hauksson would not tell RUV how many people have been questioned this week or their identities; but confirmed that most of them live in Luxembourg. He also emphasised how helpful and professional he has found the police in Luxembourg.
The international film production company Reveille has recruited Sony Pictures to help finance and distribute the American remake of the Icelandic situation comedy series, Naeturvaktin, or The Night Shift. The story is being remade in an American setting using American actors.
The script for the first episodes has already been written and the FOX Network has secured the rights to air the show. According to a press release from Iceland’s Sagafilm, which produced the original series, it will be known shortly when the pilot episode for the USA will be filmed.
“The reactions from Reveille, Sony Pictures and FOX have exceeded our brightest expectations, it’s really unbelievable,” says Sagafilm’s Kjartan Thor Thordarson. He added that the American project is going very fast and smoothly and that there seems to be lots of support for it.
Visir.is reports that Reveille is the same production company behind Biggest Loser and The Tudors, as well as the American remakes of The Office and Ugly Betty.
During the bankruptcy proceedings of Samson, a holding company that was owned by tycoon father and son Björgólfur Gudmundsson and Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson, through which they held their majority share in Landsbanki, it has turned out that the company’s book-keeping was full of glitches.
The former Chairman of Kaupthing Bank, Sigurdur Einarsson, is now on the wanted list of the international police co-operation bureau, Interpol. 
Ingolfur Helgason, the former Director of Kaupthing Iceland, and Steingrimur Karason, former CEO of the bank’s risk management department, were both arrested today upon arriving back in Iceland. They went straight to interrogation with the Special Prosecutor and are being held in police cells.
Vilhjálmur Bjarnason, a lector at the University of Iceland, dismisses Icelandic tycoon Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson’s letter of apology which was published in Fréttabladid on Wednesday, as denial and justification.
The investigative committee of Iceland’s Althingi parliament has sent many cases on to the state prosecutor. Many of those are already under investigation. These include allegations that the banks’ annual reports were deliberately distorted, loans to connected parties were abnormal and that stock market investment funds were operating outside the law. There is also reason to believe that bank staff are guilty of market manipulation.
Icelandic dancers Hoskuldur Thor Jonsson and Margret Horn Johannesdottir from Hafnarfjordur won four silver medals in the 11-years-and-younger category at the children’s dance competition held in Blackpoo, UK this week.
Olafur Thor Hauksson, Iceland’s Special Prosecutor looking into the banking crisis, believes his team will complete its first investigations before the end of the month.
It is unlikely anything important will happen in the Icesave issue before British elections take place this spring. That is the opinion of Icelandic Independence Party leader Bjarni Benediktsson following London meetings with three British parliamentary committees. He added that it is still extremely unclear what will come next in the trilateral dispute.
Leading 
Iceland’s new coastguard ship, which is being built in Chile, was damaged in the tsunami caused by this week’s devastating earthquake.
One of the biggest operations of the Icelandic special prosecutor into the banking collapse took place this week in Luxembourg.
The international film production company Reveille has recruited Sony Pictures to help finance and distribute the American remake of the Icelandic situation comedy series, Naeturvaktin, or The Night Shift. The story is being remade in an American setting using American actors.
During the bankruptcy proceedings of Samson, a holding company that was owned by tycoon father and son Björgólfur Gudmundsson and Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson, through which they held their majority share in Landsbanki, it has turned out that the company’s book-keeping was full of glitches.