Björgólfur Jóhannsson has left his position as Director of Samherji, a position he has held since November 2019. He is now Chairman of Samherji’s compliance committee, which deals with regulation and management within the Samherji corporation. Þorsteinn Már Baldvinsson, who stepped down as director following the Namibian Fishrot scandal, returned as co-director last March and has now resumed his role as the sole Director of Samherji.
Björgólfur replaced Þorsteinn Már as Director following the revelation of the Fishrot files, which indicate that Samherji was involved in money laundering, tax evasion and bribery in its operations in Namibia. Two days after Kveikur and Stundin uncovered the payments Samherji made to powerful people in Namibia and their relatives, Þorstenn Már stepped down. He returned to his post last March, working as Director alongside Björgólfur for almost a year.
A post on the Samherji website states that Björgólfur is leaving his position as Director, thanking him for his important role and contribution in unusual times. The post also reveals that he has been voted chairman of the company’s compliance committee.
Rúv also reports that yesterday morning, it was announced that a prosecutor in Norway had dropped an investigation into DNB’s affairs with Samherji and suspicion of money laundering. A prosecutor found that there wasn’t enough evidence to charge the Norwegian bank’s staff. A judge with the Reykjavík district court agreed earlier that the district prosecutor could receive KPMG’s data connected to the firm’s accounting work for Samherji. Samherji representatives have made official complaints about the judge and the prosecutor’s conduct. Earlier this month, it was revealed that three men who managed or helped manage Samherji’s companies in Namibia would be charged over the Samherji Fishrot scandal.
