Former real estate agent Helgi Ragnar Guðmundsson, who is 32, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison at Reykjanes District Court yesterday for organizing extensive fraud from the Housing Financing Fund (HFF).
Reykjavík District Court.
He and four other men were found guilty of defrauding a total of ISK 40 million (USD 316,000, EUR 243,000) from the HFF in 2009 and illegally withdrawing ISK 12 million from the account of a holding company, Fréttablaðið reports.
Helgi, who was given the longest sentence, wasn’t among the original suspect but eventually his role in organizing the fraud from the beginning was revealed during questioning of one of his accomplices.
The verdict traces the fraud back to two of the convicts, Vilhjálmur Símon Hjartarson and Jens Tryggvi Jensson, owing two other men, who haven’t been named, money for drugs.
These unnamed individuals are said to have gotten Vilhjálmur and Jens in contact with Helgi, who taught them how to falsify documents, infiltrate boards of holding companies, take loans for real estate and defraud tens of millions of ISK. By doing so, their drug debts were to be written off.
Vilhjálmur was given a 15-month sentence for his part in the case—his sentence was shortened due to his willingness to cooperate. Jens, who wasn’t as willing and was involved on more levels than Vilhjálmur, was given a three-year sentence.
Two others, Hans Aðalsteinn Helgason and Jón Ólafur Róbertsson, who lent their bank accounts to enable the fraud, were given suspended sentences of nine and seven months, respectively. It was not considered proven that they had profited from the violation.
According to dv.is, the fraud is believed to be connected with motorcycle club Fáfnir earning membership to Hells Angels.
None of the defrauded money has been tracked down. No claims for damages have been made.
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ESA
