The Office of the Special Prosecutor in Iceland, responsible for investigating the banking collapse, has filed charges against Lárus Welding, who was CEO of the bank Glitnir from 2006 and until the state took it over in 2008, along with another unnamed banker.
The headquarters of Glitnir, now Íslandsbanki.
The indictment for the latter individual will be made public today after three days have passed since it was presented to him, Morgunblaðið reports.
Lárus’s lawyer Óttar Pálsson would not comment on his client’s case when contacted by the newspaper yesterday evening.
The charge was filed following Lárus and two other former employees of Glitnir were taken into custody in relation with the special prosecutor’s investigation of the bank’s affairs. It is uncertain whether there is a direct link between the charge and custody.
According to the news rooms of both national broadcaster RÚV and private television channel Stöð 2, the charge was filed on suspicion of extensive breach of trust in connection with the company Svartháfur.
Stöð 2 reported that Lárus is suspected of having abused his position as CEO of Glitnir and chairman of the bank’s risk committee by authorizing a loan from the bank to Svartháfur on February 29, 2008.
The news story reported that the special prosecutor’s investigation of the Svartháfur plot is connected with the settlement of a loan held by Þáttur International, which was owned by the brothers Karl and Steingrímur Wernersson, Milestone and Einar Sveinsson and his family, at the US bank Morgan Stanley worth EUR 100 million (ISK 10 billion at the time).
Click here to read more about the arrests of Lárus and his associates.
ESA
