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Banker Jail Sentences: Another Lesson For The World From Iceland
Instead of kicking the can and maintaining the zombie nation, Iceland ripped its over-levered bank-based-debacle band-aid off and has slowly but surely emerged from its own crisis (notwithstanding capital controls and pain for many) unlike the rest of the Western world which has reverted to the mean of ignorance and status quo. Now, however, The Guardian reports Iceland has one more lesson to teach the world - an Icelandic court has sentenced four former Kaupthing bankers to jail for market abuses.
Via The Guardian,
An Icelandic court has sentenced four former Kaupthing bankers to jail for market abuses related to a large stake taken in the bank by a Qatari sheikh just before it went under in late 2008.
Weeks before the country's top three banks collapsed under huge debts as the global credit crunch struck, Kaupthing announced that Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani had bought 5 of its shares in a confidence-boosting move.
A parliamentary commission later said the shares had been bought with a loan from Kaupthing itself.
On Thursday, a Reykjavik district court sentenced Hreidar Mar Sigurdsson, Kaupthing's former chief executive, to five and a half years in prison while former chairman Sigurdur Einarsson received a five-year sentence.
Magnus Gudmundsson, former chief executive of Kaupthing Luxembourg, was given a three-year sentence and Olafur Olafsson – the bank's second largest shareholder at the time – received three and a half years.
In what is by far the largest case brought by Iceland's special prosecutor against former employees of Iceland's failed banks, it was argued that the market had been deceived by information indicating that financing was coming directly from Al Thani's own funds.
Instead of fining the banks (in nothing more than a cost-of-doing-business line item), there are real consequences for the actors involved...
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Here's hoping they are in general population and not protective.
Hope its an outdoor prison.
super fun activity:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_man_of_the_year
organize the list into a small number of categories
such as: (A) point of the spear and (B) controlled opposition
(this "writing prompt" will be featured in future offerings of standardized writing tests for college entrance)
(not)
Is this the cue for the US Gov't to declare Iceland a terrorist state?
Where is the zerohedge coverage of the "affluenza" case? Rich kid gets off of killing four while drunk because, wait for it, he's too rich to know about consequences! You can't make this stuff up:
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Judge-Jean-Boyd-Becomes-Target-of-Ethan-Couch-Affluenza-Case-Criticism-235718611.html
"The controversial decision, as well as backlash over a defense strategy that included testimony that 16-year-old Ethan Couch suffered from "affluenza" -- an upbringing so privileged that he was unable to discern right from wrong -- has led to significant criticism from the public."
I suppose the reverse would work as well.
"...an upbringing so underprivileged that he was unable to discern right from wrong..."
Oh...it already has ;-)
"an upbringing so privileged that he was unable to discern right from wrong"
could be genetic
in which case, only people with a morality gene will be convicted and jailed
"morality gene" -- what a laff
But then I guess people with the morality gene wouldn't commit the crime in the first place, right? Unless it was 'switched off' in which case they'd be just as helpless as those who didn't have it in the first place.
A good argument for assigning guilt and punishments in court of law per midle class standards.Throw the bums in jail for fifty years...or even better....seek capitol punishment in a balanced way on both sides of the class spectrum.
Too Big to Fail...wait we ´ve got a little surprise for you...how do you like those hand irons...and the sentencing won´t really be impressed by the fancy lawyers you have on your payroll. You will get the needle , no matter what.
Iceland has been impressive in their actions for several years now.
Say what you will about Iran, but I also like the way they handle banksters...
http://www.thejournal.ie/iran-to-execute-four-men-convicted-over-major-b...
I bet they have a low recidivism rate.
Obama can use that excuse now that it is an allowed defense.
Air strike kills 15 civilians in Yemen by mistake
Fresh Fish!
Here's hoping a big black guy named Bubba uses them as his BITCH every damn day (and night). Bravo Iceland for having the balls to do what we won't do. I recently posted that NOTHING will be done about our situation here in Amerika until we go after these criminals. Off with their heads would be even better.
It's unfortunate these convicted bankers probably won't suffer as much as they should. It's Iceland. So, the living standard of prison inmates is probably higher than that of average working people in most countries.
five years? but I hope they serve every damn day, now to be first: free corzine.
Free Francis Sawyer!
free them all
Otto
bank guy in brussels
trav777
Mr Lennon Hendrix
Mako
and francis_saywer
and anyone else I may have missed
Marla...
slewie
blunderdog
Half_a_billion_hollow_points
1/3 of a billion useful idiots
1/10 of 1/3 of a billion slightly more nothern, servile and mentally kidnapped idiots.
jingo bells jingo bells jingo all da way
oh how easy it is to rile
some people anyday,
Hey!?
Don't fret, pal. I'd miss you too buddy; right here.
Did Compassionate Fascist get banned or did he succomb to his health issues?
The comment section has been a lot easier to scan since he stopped posting.
no! and no! keep them all banned. they were infecting zerohedge with the truth. that is not allowed. this is not a fight club. if you want fight club, go to another site. here on zerohedge, only articles and comments relevant to kabuki theater are allowed. no truth shall infect the minds of posters here. that might offend a certain unnamed and god's chosen tribe; and abe foxman's agents. go away. this is ABC Media, LTD incorporated in england and you and francis-like posters are not allowed to offend and criticize the esteemed shareholders of this fine site and abc media ltd.
Pseudo, Tyler will want to sell the site at some stage. If he allows the people you refer to be offended the sale will be fooooooked. Can't say I blame him.
first you sell your soul. and then you're allowed to sell your business. for judefetzen.
Bank Guy in Brussels is gone now too?
He did get a bit spammy when it came to corruption of the judiciary in the US, but his other stuff was interesting. Sad loss to the community...
Really? Are you sure?
That's a shame.
..and there are "Pitchfork Protests" now spreading across Italy. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/12/us-italy-protests-idUSBRE9BB0W...
RE: pitchforks, yep I believe they will be the weapon of choice when the SHTF. Gonna take'em out close and personnel .
If you like your Qatari sheikh, you can keep your Qatari sheikh.
Do they keep the jail cells warm in Iceland?
here they get a bone-us
Hang the motherfuckers! That'll teach 'em!
Ought to be served in 'solitary confinement'.....you know, for reflection.
Kim Jong-Un for US Bank Examiner!
Wow, can you imagine the breathless superlatives he'd give out for Jamie Dimon before his execution? Run that baby back and forth on the korean to english translator, and that stuff would be solid gold!
If I stole a billion dollars, I would'nt mind being held in a minimum security prison for 5 years. Have you ever heard of them paying back ALL if any of what they stole?
One wonders what the immigration to Iceland is like. Cold? yes. Isolated? sure. But when it comes to handing out financial Justice, I don't see many other places worth going to. God bless Iceland for showing us the way.....
And for Bjork.
If they serve the full five years, and thats a big if, when they come out, strip them all their ill gotten gains, turf them out on the streets and make sure that for the rest of their naturals, they are never allowed near finance, or money services ever again.
Let them live a life where their only form of making money is reliant on their labour skills set and 'Sheer Talent'.
My money is on them all being dead in six months after that.
Pieces of fucking piss bucket scum.
;-)
There is no need to insult piss bucket scum here... What has piss bucket scum ever done to you?
Hey blood,ya left out the ol' five letter word at the bottom of your comments that we're all accustomed to,so without further ado...
Gimme a 'c'........C
Gimme a 'u'........U
Gimme an 'n'......N
Gimme a 't'........T
Gimme a 's'.......S
;-)
Actually, I think we need to send this guy after them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUzlmWWdjEQ
Holding somebody accountable. Now there is something you don't see every day...... unless you're some poor kid trying to earn a few bucks selling lemonade without a permit. For them it's the full force of the state coming down on these criminal terrorists.
pah, you libertarians, you want just ANYONE being able to make a drink from lemons?
Holding someone accountable? No, not in the US of A. Especially not if you are rich: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/12/affluenza-defense-probation-for...
All bankers will end up going to prison in Iceland.
http://icelandpictures.tumblr.com/post/26760665527/kirkjufell-nicest-jail-in-the-world
Are you kidding? That would be hell. They are expected to work on that farm.
A prison with no bars or fences ? So where does a con get pissed on a saturday night or sell off his ill gotten produce ?
Good for Iceland
FUCK the bankers.
And a great BIG fuck you to the Bilderboogers, Rockefellers and Rothchilds, and all other elitist trillionaire pricks too, on this Holy Holiday Season.
Fuck you, you cunts! Happy Fucking Holidays, and may all your dreams become nightmares......
Well at least there is integrity in one last nation.
I believe if you are a blonde lover then Iceland may be just the place for you. If the redhead wife reads this before I post it I may be moving there myself. I think they keep pretty much everything there warm with geothermal so the ex bankers will at least be warm. All for them being in general population though. Your skill set should include some commercial fishing related skills if you plan on going.
Iceland is no longer the homogenous nation it was. The country hasn't escaped NWO-style enrichment and now boasts, if you can get your mind around such a phenomenon 'a thriving African community'. Which will grow and grwow and GROW.
Gonna be needing those jails.
You can't put bankers in jail. They are doing God's work. Now what is God going to have to do this shit on his own?
Execution would be more appropriate.
Their day is coming.
Politicians are bad, bankers are worse, but this is the crux. As these events progress and the injustice mounts I can't help but think one thing...
We need Batman.
Here they get high political office, even the bootlickers and lobbyists.
Chris Christie was Bernie Madoff's lobbyist... look it up.
Deceptive PR is the worst thing they could be charged with?
But how will all the Icelandic small businesses get access to capital with these 4 vital bankers in jail?
Finally...a story that I actually enjoyed reading. True punishment is long overdue....and while we will most likely never see this happen in the US....it's nice to know that common sense and justice is not totally dead everywhere.
Icelanders are unique. There's only about 320,000 of them on a rocky, barren, volcanic island. By now they're all somewhat related to each other. Genetic studies show that the original men of Iceland were Norse, but the original women were Gaelic. Every one is them is literate. They have the most bookstores per capita in the world, and about 10% of all Icelanders will publish a book in their lifetime. They eat the worst food imaginable. They have nearly unlimited electricity and heat.
There was an area near where I grew up where there were a lot of Icelanders. They were not to be taken lightly. They were mostly farmers who liked to do weird metal welding sculptures out of their broken farm tools, and have drunken all-night-long poetry readings of stuff they themselves had written, including songs. Lots of it with rather extreme dark Nordic subtexts, like people going crazy in poetic fashion and killing their families according to some ancient doom; stuff like that. Man, they could and did drink.
So it really doesn't surprise me that Icelanders would do this. EU bankster threats to cut them off and shun them wouldn't bother them too much; they eat "hakarl" and "svio." Don't Google them if you've eaten recently. I wish in this matter that we would learn from the example set by Iceland. But remember, this place was settled by people too anti-social to be Vikings.
Oh, and unbelievably hot chicks. Soul-searingly, terrifyingly crazy chicks. But oh my goodness hot.
Yes and yes. Going out in Reykjavík in the early 00s at night was a lot of fun especially with reasonable flights at various times of the year out of Logan or JFK on Iceland Air or Aer Lingus.
"There was an area near where I grew up where there were a lot of Icelanders."
swmnguy, I am curious where that was?
Though I have never lived there, or even visited for more than a few hrs btwn flights, I am proud of a little bit of Icelandic blood - especially with this bankster news. Thanks for info/insights.
fencejumper
+1000 for your last sentence swmnguy. "...too anti-social to be Vikings."
Classic, and it is gems like this that keep me coming back to ZH.
These aren't Iceland's first criminal convictions of high-ranking bank execs...
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/12/28/uk-iceland-crisis-idUKBRE8BR0EW20121228 ("Two former executives at an Icelandic bank which collapsed in the 2008 financial meltdown were sentenced to jail on Friday for fraud")...
...and they won't be the last if February 2012 numbers are any indication...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-20/icelandic-anger-brings-record-debt-relief-in-best-crisis-recovery-story.html ("more than 200, including the former chief executives at the three biggest banks, face criminal charges.")
Scaling those numbers to the U.S.-Iceland 1000-1 population (and GDP) ratio would mean we're about 200,000 high-level indictments short of lawful republic. That compares with 100,000 high-level jail sentences which you'd expect from the scale of the $150 billion S&L scandal, which saw 1000+ elite bankers imprisoned on crisis losses roughly 1/100th the size seen in the 2008 meltdown.
And by the way, Iceland cut its unemployment rate in half without fraudulently rigging its data, too. Imagine that.
http://studiotendra.com/2012/12/29/what-is-actually-going-on-in-iceland/
Not everything is rosy. Iceland revolution was boosted by media and enthusiastic people. They are not completely free. I wonder whether any of these bankers will serve full sentences. I would just cut their heads off because I cannot spend taxpayers money for such scum of humanity.
Bend over, Bubba wants to make a deposit....
I think that's Bubbasson
The bankers phobia is blinding everybody. Iceland has NOT emerged. The country is still drowning in debts, some with the Treasury and a lot with the Central Bank. The country has imposed capital control.
The politicians are sending to jail their former allies, the bankers, to save their skin. But they are no better and in no way an example to be followed.
Do they still have capital controls or have they lifted them? I think I remember reading not too long ago that they were planning to lift them.
Goldman didn't want Iceland.
It's just too effin' cold, and there aren't enough zeros.
There are lots of geothermal energy sources however and some took advantage of the banking crisis to steal them from the state
Meanwhile in Greece:
"The Greek banks have been bailed out with billions exceeding 90% of country's GDP since 2008. When citizens suffer from heavy taxes, unemployment strikes the Greek society, Greek economy faces deep recession and Greeks sink in poverty, it appears that Greek governments do have money, but only for the banks. Billions were given in bailouts, but no one knows where the money went and how they were exploited. The only thing that is certain is that they didn't go where they should go: to the real economy."
http://failedevolution.blogspot.gr/2013/12/greece-money-and-support-only...