Former CEO of the defunct bank Glitnir Lárus Welding and two other former executives of Glitnir were released from custody yesterday afternoon. Special Prosecutor Ólafur Þór* Hauksson had finished questioning them.
The headquarters of Glitnir, now Íslandsbanki. Photo by Páll Kjartansson.
The three executives were arrested in an extensive action organized by his office on November 30, ruv.is reports.
Eight investigative teams have since worked around the clock, questioning tens of people due to suspicion on serious market abuse in Glitnir before the banking collapse in 2008.
Ólafur requested a week-long custody over four men but the request was only granted in the case of three of those arrested. The detainees appealed the custody verdict but it was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Iceland on Friday.
The reason for the custody was primarily to prevent the men from agreeing on a joint testimony. They didn’t know on what evidence the special prosecutor based his case before questioning.
Both Reykjavík District Court and the Supreme Court agreed to this argumentation.
The questioning took less time than expected and so the three suspects were released yesterday, even though the custody doesn’t expire until tomorrow.
Click here to read more about this story.
ESA
* The Icelandic letter þ is pronounced like th in thunder.
