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Former CEO Of Failed Iceland Bank Landsbanki Arrested
Iceland, which alone in the entire developed world allowed its banking sector to collapse, and which, also alone, has benefited from a recovery that is truly organic courtesy of a devaluation of its currency and a global restructuring of its corporate balance sheet (read wipe outs for its banker class), continues to show the world that it is possible to have at least some semblance of justice in a world captured by fraud and criminal financial interests. After the CEO of failed bank Kaputhing was arrested back in May, today AFP reports that Iceland police has also detained the former CEO and several other executives of the other major Iceland failed bank: Landsbanki.
From AFP:
Two former heads of collapsed Icelandic bank Landsbanki, including a former chief executive, have been arrested in connection with a market manipulation probe, the prosecutor on the case said Friday.
Sigurjon Arnason, the former head of the failed bank, and Ivar Gudjonsson, its former investment chief, were arrested Thursday and went before a judge Friday afternoon, special prosecutor Olafur Thor Hauksson told AFP.
"An investigation is still in process," he said, adding that if the two men were charged with market manipulation they would face a maximum prison sentence of six years.
The two men were remanded in custody, Arnason until January 25 and Gudjonsson until January 21, their lawyers told Icelandic media.
Three other ex-Landsbanki executives -- former chief corporate accountant Elin Sigfusdottir, former brokerage head Steinthor Gunnarsson, and former chief of securities Yngvi Orn Kristinnsson -- were also taken in for questioning by police on Thursday but were released.
Hauksson opened the investigation into Landsbanki's spectacular collapse last October.
The bank was one of Iceland's three main banks that all went belly-up in October 2008, and were taken over by the country's financial supervisory authority (FSA).
The FSA suspects that Landsbanki executives were involved in of market manipulation for nearly five years leading up to the crash.
Prosecutor Hauksson has been charged with the task of shedding light on possible fraudulent and illegal activities among the Icelandic bankers, nick-named "the witches" at the time their businesses were booming across Northern Europe.
In May 2010, a similar probe was launched into the dealings of the one-time largest bank Kaupthing, and several top executives were briefly taken into custody.
The crimes these people are charged with are like child's play compared with what happened in the US during the great moderation. Which is precisely why no justice will ever be sought after our own former and current bank heads. At least no justice that can be dispensed in a court of law. That said, we still have to see real justice in Iceland: In May 2010, a similar probe was launched into the dealings of the
one-time largest bank Kaupthing, and several top executives were briefly
taken into custody. Briefly. Then released. It appears that even the country which attempts to appear a safe-haven from global financial corruption, is not immune from the effects of infinite fiat.
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I wish we would follow their example and let the banks fail.... and make arrests!
I'm with you on that one!
Collectively, America has completely degenerated into an childish state of being. Iceland has demonstrated how adults should act. They've shown that making the right choice is not always easy, but that should not stop one from making it. All the while, we simply pretend nothing is wrong and go about our business. We're a bunch of children.
Yes, indeed!
America -- the lawless rogue nation state controlled by the banksters.
We require Eva Joly to take time off from the European Parliament to come and investigate the Obama-Bush Administration and the Fed.
That GAO audit of the Fed will take entirely too long -- and we all know the end result:
The USA is simply one colossal-sized Ponzi-Tontine schem.
We are a bunch of children and they like it that way. They have dumbed down the populace to such an extent that logic doesn't make sense anymore unless it's wrapped up in a religious format and under THEIR LOGIC. Just look at the many big childish movies that have been made in the us for "family" this and family that. They have made a 21'st century version of bread and circuses for the american plebs. As long as I'm getting my govt. check or food stamps or whatever I'm satisfied. And doing this they have made a country of bullies and cowards who will bully anything that looks beneath them but will allow themselves to be robbed blind by banks and businesses and their local govt. and leaders because of this one thing.
When you are for yourself your by yourself. And a bully or child or coward can't feel by themselves because it scares them. Iceland did what they did because they people where at the end of their rope. They essentially had nothing and where taken for a ride. It may happen in the US, but we where brought up to be intolerant and childish and ignorant of things. So we may lose everything, but some idiot will think he's helping by blaming THOSE PEOPLE. In the end we will end up as a fascists thirdworld country.
Death by Bongo (bitchez, of course)
Chop dem raas!
I see the idiots are still posting doom and gloom, you should all be rich by now had you not listened to these cracks.
The perma-shill niche on this blog is already crowded with Harry and Robo in the lead.
Robo is slacking, tho. When was the last time we had massive boobies? Yeah I don't remember either so it's been at least 36 hours. We need new blood around here. The old shills are simply not pulling their weight.
Yeah but this guy can't even spell correctly one of my favorite topics, Whiskey
Sure. But you get enough whiskey down yer neck and it becomes w'iskey doesn't matter who you are.
With 'onlymyopinion' coming up strong...
We can't all be rich, jackass. It is not the case that everyone in the market can make net gains all the time.
Johnny Bravo?
LOL, very good.
Perp walks to the top of of the volcano!
its a small country 300.000 people nowhere to hide...you cannot just turn the life of people upside down and go on as usual...thats my take
Fine, but did he threaten to motherfucking kill the motherfucking police for fucking with him when he's a banker you motherfucking fucks? Bring you helmet midget fuckers cuz it is now so fucking on.
LOL
Couger,
What has sex got to do with it?
And what is "on".
I am not smart enough to figure out what you are saying.
At least spell my name correctly. Droll innuendo looses a lot of it's punch when you don't pay attention to details.
Like, looses? Sorry Cougar! Otherwise quite good posting.
Not enough w'iskey is my biggest problem.
what's a little whiskey on the whiskers
Iceland arrests a fraudster banker. We in the USA arrest a guy who calls someone at the CFTC a "fucking midget." This shit can't get more bizarro.
See here in the USA we have laws against defamation based on stature, sexual orientation, race, and all that.
But fraud, not so much. You can do all the fraud you want. Just don't ever do fraud and then call anyone a midget. Even if they are. You'll get 10 to 20 in the stony lonesome for that shit, right now.
Actually it's still legal to call somebody a "fucking midget" but you should stop short of threatening to kill him. I'm not sure if it's a "hate crime" to call somebody "a fucking midget" if they are, in fact, vertically challenged. ;-)
I call mine a "fucking midget" every morning when I stand before the mirror naked.
If Jamie Dimon or Lloyd Blankfien get arrested there will be riots in the streets and the US may need to institute Marshal Law.
Not riots. Joyous celebrations!
No. Food will become unavailable, there will looting, grandmothers will be shot, dead babies, dead dolphins, puppies slaughtered for their warm fur, 100% unemployment. The world would end.
BTW how many bankers have been arrested to date for the fraud that led to the financial crisis? Oh...there must have been no fraud, my bad.
Ok. I was all for arresting those crooks until you mentioned dead dolphins and puppies. Now I'm having second thoughts. Maybe they aren't such bad guys after all.
....koala bears would go extinct, the antarctic iceshelf would collapse (polar bears would drown), and congress would need to be aroused at 10:00pm to be alerted to these events happening if Jamie and Lloyd don't get what they want.
BTW didn't the number2 at JPM just get a top spot on the Obama administration?
No polar bears in Antarctica, lotsa penguins, no bears..
...penguins will die in droves, lotsa cute penguins dead.
Yep. They won't be arrested in the US, cuz here, they do "God's work". America cloaked in religion.
That God, he's a busy one. He wins a lot of football games too, according to many of the players. I wonder how he picks which players he'll grace with his powers and why he hates the other team?
no shit, he helped auburn win a national championship, cam newton was praying all the time...that shit works (sarc)
First of all, the Good would step down to rescue its servants.
Actually, a witch-test should be made: let put them on electric chair and if they will not be rescued, so all this talks about Good's work was a scam.
If it wasn't for fixed market crony capitalism and fraud as a business model...
Jamie & Lloyd would be Amerika's Shoe Shine Boys...
Pray for monetary Armageddon, Apocalypse and a financial comet strike on New York. Sanity and an informed citizenry are just too much to hope for in the USSA.
I guess Iceland freezing over is what is required for bankers pay for their fraud. May the bankster rot in hell.
Iceland...I am a fan!
It's a great place, not even very much ice. However I understand that if you want to talk to a banker in Iceland you have to wait until the once-a-month viewing days at the local penitentiary. It's really hurt business there.
Yeah, why is all the ice in Greenland, and all the green land in Iceland?
Leif Erikson redirecting would-be colonists to green (actually, icy) Greenland was one of the first (and perhaps still greatest) real estate frauds in the Western world.
Iceland (actually green and with little ice) never got over it. Never. You do fraud in Iceland now and they kick you in the balls. And if your name happens to be Erikson they kick you in the balls twice.
And if your name happens to be Erikson they kick you in the balls twice
Correct. Then you would go on to found Blueland. Bring some ice.
And it's outta the park, folks!
if only their food were not so frightening and their language so impenetrable...I would seriously consider moving there.
Sorry, but you don't have the proper genetic code.
Their favorite foods are hot dogs and pizza. I kid you not. Americans would fit right in. As for bizarre foods, the only place I ever saw that rotten shark meat called "hakarl" that is supposed to be a local delicacy was at the bazaar next to where the cruise ships come in.
I went to see a movie in Reykjavik a few years ago and they love to crank the volume painfully loud, and make their own intermission halfway through. The movie just stops and people go out to the lobby for hot dogs, then they turn it back on after 15 minutes or so. I could get to like that after I got used to it.
They'd have to go some to outdo the Norwegians, who invented lutefisk.
I've never eaten it but it looks like terrorism to me.
It does look repellent, doesn't it. The legend I've heard is that lutefisk was actually invented by the Irish, who added lye to the barrels of cod in an attempt to poison Viking invaders. Sadly, the marauding Norwegians weren't even slowed down by the lye and apparently found it added an interestingly piquant layer to the flavor of the fish.
Here in Minnesota lutefisk is served up as a delicacy on Christmas Eve. It is proudly featured at countless Lutheran church dinners over the holidays. My German grandmother would make it for my Norwegian grandfather, which is why we went to my other grandmother's for Christmas Eve. It tastes more or less like fish, the problem is in the texture - think fish Jello.
Warning duly noted, I'll stick with fruitcake and egg-nog, then! :>D
Iceland has it right. It told the international 'banksters' to go pound sand!
In effect, to piss up a rope and suck the wet end if they want something!
Now to watch the prosecutions and incarcerations unfold.
The Icelandic economy is now on the mend and bouncing back.
These descendants of Vikings have shown the way. The banksters don't like it!
Seems to me there are too many sycophants of the elite here who would decry this as "populism" and the 15% below them on the economic ladder who are making out just fine and want nothing to upset this happy apple cart who wield far outsized influence in the daily workings of the Ponzi.
I think that is a solid assessment of the situation!
The comment didn't mention midgets in any way, but indeed other than that minor stylistic flaw it was right on.
Iceland, you have my greatest respect for doing the right thing
If we could combine the chutzpah of the Chilean Miners and the Balls behind the Icelandic authorities...
We'd have America, circa 1800...
Nice
Prime Minister of Iceland is an out lesbian, they provide universal health care for their citizens, top literacy rates, no standing army.
Not remotely like amrka, circa any time.
Prime Minister of Iceland is an out lesbian,
Hey, you americans have Hillary!
no standing army.
no assembled invading force has been able to locate the country in recorded history
. . . you didn't mention their high literacy rate - wonder why.
because the usa is over run with immigration from countries with low literacy rates and iceland has almost no immigration except for Bobby Fischer, therefor literacy rates of the two countries cannot be compared directly and it's not worth commenting about.
Same stuff as usual. Assessing Iceland on their last move is like assessing a chess game on the last move.
Not a bad move when it's checkmate.
Not a bad move but one that is the result of all the previous moves.
Too many people would like to sell the idea that Iceland last move is what explains their success.
Nope, Iceland's success comes from the very fact they worked according to a plan since years 1997,1998.
If you dont play the same game, and have played similar moves before, the last move decided by Iceland is unlikely to bring the same consequences.
Sounds like too much financial regulation. /sarc
Sad that Amerika marches to its own lawless tune.
I hope the Irish are paying close attention. Wouldn't that be something to see?
Most of the Icelandic speak English; the girls are super hot; and it really isn't that cold. You should look into the requirements for permanent residency; it might be the only civilization left in the next 30 years.
And since none of them have much money a nice modest upper middle class american would be a babe magnet....ah to iceland i would go if i were still young. The value priced caucasian option that wont give you hepatitis like the low price leader....russia.
"special prosecutor Olafur Thor Hauksson"
It's hammer time!
Speaking of the Rothschild cartel, Lord Acton said, "The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks." Presently, Iceland is an anomaly, the banks are winning. To wit, Volcker out, Daley in on Pennsylvania Avenue.
http://therookiecynic.wordpress.com/
Iceland doing its best, to prove that the Bailouts were fraudulent and that Paulson should be hung for Treason
The Best Way To Rob a Bank is To Own One, by William Black.
An interview: http://www.portervillepost.com/pdf/The_Best_Way_To_Rob_A_Bank.pdf
It's also kinda cool to rob a bank in the nude.
http://madscienceunlimited.com/fiction/notEvenWork.html
Okay she ends up nude after robbing the bank and then setting the bank manager on fire. But still.
Your on fire tonight..
Banking cartel never forgets.
Just wait until MSM reports, that Bin Laden was lately seen in Iceland.
300.000 peasants is not a big case.
Than MSM reports that US Army geologist just discovered huge geothermal sources, what a surprise, so intervention will self-financing in a long term.
STOP SCREWING AROUND!
TAKE THEIR MONEY!
All of it, bitches.
Oh, so that is how a real government works. Living in the US, it is so long since we had one that it is hard to remember that far back.
No trial....string them up.......it might be hard to prove but they knew....they knew.
Give me an axe....but no face mask for me.....that is soo 14th century. I want a beanie with the spinner on top.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJM2paIyn2c
A few arrests around here are in order.
They're all Bernie Madoffs
Blood Libel.
Lots of lonely and unadorned lamp posts on Wall Street and K Street.
I love your vision. Kind of like Christmas and Cinco de Mayo all in one.
Pinstripe Piñatas predominate!
The unfortunate down side is that most of the people who would do the job aren't the kind of people I want in charge when it's over.
The inevitable just takes longer in some places than others.
I think all of our hearts go out to the families and children of these bankers. THEY are the true victims of this senseless tragedy.
Can't we all just take a moment to think about how these poor innocents will be affected when their allowances and car payments come due.
Surely we can spare some compassion for the wives and offspring of these men, who have lived their lives in luxury, yet must now somehow adapt to an uncaring world where they are no richer, indeed, no better than those around them.
Truly, this a dark hour of national tragedy for all of Iceland.
Oh, yeah, and
Stick it to the thieving bastards, Icelandic legal system!!
Is it possible to arrest the Bail-out chiefs -- Hank Paulson, Tim Geithner, Ben Bernanke.
I know it will not happen .. so it is a theoretical question?
No. The question has the unpleasant duty of making a person consider its highly probable answer. So, it is rhetorical.
Yea, but what happens if one our own financial elite is implicated during their investigation. Wouldn't that be funny if they were to seek extradition for Icelandic crimes. I guess I'm dreaming again.
In all of my years, I have never seen anything which couldn't be put right by a fair trial, out behind the stables. Followed by first class hangings from the walk-rail that goes around the 2nd floor of the Townhall.
As heathen as we may interpret the government of China at times, they certainly know how to craft a message. As (known) recent as 2004, a Bank officer had fasttalked some depositors out of some money, plus he was found to have embezzled the equivalent of $1MM from the bank during his lengthy career.
After his closed-door trial, they executed him.
Any questions?
Only Iceland seems to understand that the answer to the Bankster incited Midgard Serpent that wraps the world, is Hammertime as the Bankerclass' offer of a lifetime of debtservitude gets Thor's Moljnr upside the head.
Ragnarok the Reackoning for the bankers
The arrests are for the sake of "helping the special prosecutor with his inquiries". These dignitaries not going to trial yet. Whether they, or anyone, will eventually be tried has yet to be seen. I am afraid that this country has not so far done anything very tangible to become "a safe haven from global financial corruption" - not to mention ordinary, old home-grown corruption, with one exception, namely the huge, detailed and meticulous report commissioned by our Parliament. That was actually a great achievment, but what will come out of it? People are still mad as hell, but they're sitting still for the IMF/European Union formula, and the government is working systematically to implement European Union membership although most of the population is against it. The big plum is supposed to be replacing the Icelandic krona with the euro. Even if you are convinced that that would be a good thing, the idea of aiming for it at the present time seems about as stupid a notion as one could possibly have. Our leaders are, no doubt, looking ahead to Euro-jobs, playing with the big boys (er . . . boys and girls), and the broader public doesn't seem to have a clue about what's happening in the Eurozone to small, bankrupt countries. (I say the "broader public", because many of us are quite up to speed.) Anyway, don't praise Iceland too much. We've done some things right, but we are still very much in the clutches of smarmy racketeers and corrupt, or clueless, or corrupt-and-clueless politicians who don't care what happens to the country but do care single-mindedly about keeping their political opponents from doing anything that might really help. There are no "good guys" in our political community and won't be, as long as we have professional politicians and party politics.