Former CEO and chair of now defunct investment company Baugur Group Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson was yesterday ordered to pay ISK 62 million (USD 252,000, EUR 490,000) for extensive violation of the tax law by the Supreme Court of Iceland.

Jón Ásgeir. Photo: Páll Stefánsson/Iceland Review.

Jón Ásgeir, his sister and business associate Kristín Jóhannesdóttir and Tryggvi Jónsson, former CEO of Baugar, were also handed suspended sentences, 12, three and 18 months, respectively, as reported by ruv.is.

Tryggvi was ordered to pay ISK 32 million in fines.

The charges are extensive and go back as far as 1998, the year Baugur was founded. Jón Ásgeir and Tryggvi were sentenced for having failed to report some of their taxable income at Baugur, including those received in the form of life insurance premiums and car allowances.

Kristín, who was managing director of the family-owned investment company Gaumur, was convicted for having overestimated the loss of the company.

Jón Ásgeir announced in Fréttablaðið that they would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, describing the 11-year trial against Baugur as emotional wrath against individuals and companies. “No big crime was found and no one is going to prison. The prosecution’s fiasco has cost society hundreds of millions of krónur which will never be returned.”

In other news, the Office of the Special Prosecutor has charged former CEO of Glitnir Bank Bjarni Ármannsson with major tax evasion between 2006 and 2008, as confirmed by ruv.is on Monday.

Bjarni said in a statement that due to a mistake the taxable income in question was not reported to tax authorities. When he found out about the mistake, he paid the taxes he had originally failed to pay with premium, Bjarni reasoned, adding that he is therefore surprised about the charge.

Click here to read more about the Baugur Case.

ZR