Interpol hunt former Icelandic bank chief Sigurdur Einarsson
Sigurdur Einarsson, the ex-chairman and chief executive of collapsed Icelandic bank Kaupthing, is wanted by Interpol on suspicion of forgery and fraud.
Telegraph, 12 May 2010
The former banking executive, who lives in West London, publicly blamed Gordon Brown for Kaupthing’s collapse in October 2008. He has now been listed on the website of the international law enforcement agency as “wanted”.
Iceland’s special prosecutor issued an international arrest warrant for Mr Einarsson yesterday, with a description of him as 1.8m tall, 114kg in weight, bald and with blue eyes.
According to Icelandic media reports, he has told the prosecutor’s team that he is willing to return to his home country to help with their enquiries on the condition that he is not arrested on arrival.
His former co-chief executive, Hreidar Mar Sigurdsson, was arrested last week on suspicion of falsifying documents and market manipulation. He is still in police custody.
Kaupthing's collapse in October 2008 cost the British Treasury £2.5bn and hundreds of UK savers with its Isle of Man branch are still waiting to be fully compensated. Both he and Mr Einarsson have previously denied any wrongdoing over Kaupthing's collapse.
The bank's actions are under investigation by the UK Serious Fraud Office and a special inquiry team in Iceland over claims of share ramping and big loans to related parties.
Iceland's special prosecutor is looking into more than 20 cases of potential criminal activity connected to Kaupthing and the country's other failed banks.
A special report by Iceland's parliament showed Kaupthing secretly owned almost half of its own shares.
Two-thirds of Kaupthing's clients were based in London, including high-profile investors such as Robert Tchenguiz, Simon Halabi and the Candy Brothers, who all lost substantial sums in the crash.
After Kaupthing's loan book was leaked on to the internet last August, it showed key shareholders and owners were the bank's main borrowers. Mr Tchenguiz, who was a director of Kaupthing's largest shareholder, had the biggest debt of €1.74bn.
Following the disclosure, Mr Sigurdsson defended the bank's practices but made a public apology. "Mistakes were made," he said. "I'm obliged to offer my apologies to the bank's shareholders, lenders and employees. I should have prepared the bank better for the storm that hit it."
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