The prosecutor of economic crimes has filed a charge against Haukur Thór Haraldsson, former managing director of Landsbanki’s operations division, for defrauding more than ISK 118 million (USD 965,000, EUR 640,000).

This is the first criminal case in relation to the banking collapse of October 2008 which has led to a charge being filed, Fréttabladid reports.

On October 8 last year, two days after the emergency law was passed in Iceland’s parliament, Haraldsson transferred ISK 118 million to his personal account from a domestic foreign currency account on behalf of Landsbanki’s subsidiary, which was registered in the tax haven of Guernsey. The following day the money was transferred to a different account in Haraldsson’s ownership. 

This case has been investigated for the past year and Haraldsson has always denied having been in breach of the law. He claims that he was attempting to save the bank’s money with the transfers because it wasn’t clear whether the Icelandic state would guarantee the bank’s deposits in offshore accounts.  04-Dec-09.

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