Reykjavik District Court has today passed sentence on the first case by the special prosecutor into the banking crash. Baldur Gudlaugsson has been sentenced to two years in prison for insider trading.
Baldue Gudlaugsson, former permanent secretary at the Ministry of Finance, committed serious crimes, the judge said;adding that his sentence is particularly harsh because he abused his position as a civil servant.
Gudlaugsson was found guilty on six charges, Visir.is reports. He was found not guilty on one charge and partially absolved of the remaining two.
He sold his shares in Landsbanki on the 17th and 18th September 2008, immediately before the bank’s fall — apparently based on inside knowledge.
The court has seized the ISK 192 million (EUR 1.2 million) profit from the share sale, which Gudlaugsson has been keeping in an account at Arion Bank. He will also have to pay his lawyer a further ISK 4.5 million in charges.
This is the first case brought by special prosecutor Olafur Thor Hauksson to get to the sentencing stage. Hauksson is currently in Luxembourg investigating the fall of Kaupthing Bank.
>2 years in jail for stealing that amount of money. Very good deal, very good maths.
Just in case it wasn’t clear (switching between ISK billions and EUR millions can make the whole number thing a little disconnected), he lost the whole amount of the sale proceeds of the shares.
As those shares would have been worth a lot more at the height than when they were sold, the total loss to his estate on when he “should” have sold them is massive. From (whatever) to zip.
As you say though, his jail term will be a relatively easy thing. The small society thing could mean it goes either way after he’s released but, even then, it’s hard to be too vindictive about it. After all he personally had nothing to do with the banks, at least not in terms of his conviction.
Brilliant news,
Can we see a hundred more jailed?
please not only 2 years, please make it a 100 years.
2 years in jail for stealing that amount of money.
Very good deal, very good maths.
I’m sure the jail will be like a five star hotel?
Send them to a jail in Africa or China, then you will not see anymore of these crimes.
>No fleeing to Russia here Brumley
Well, I did say that his not fleeing to Russia was his only mistake :) . I’d be interested to know how a civil servant in Iceland got his hands on 1.2m euros of shares (at the depressed Sept 2008 price – presumably they were worth a lot more at one point).
>Insider trading laws are ridiculous in concept but they are the law.
Okay, but how do you get around the problem then?
” abused his position as a civil servant. ”
” The court has seized the ISK 192 million (EUR 1.2 million) profit from the share sale, which Gudlaugsson has been keeping in an account at Arion Bank. ”
I expect his appeal will not reduce this much.
Icelanders here ( except of fringe people like Axel and despoondent like Easy ) have made it clear that the legal system works. Just give the time for this cases to work through and if criminallity then after trial and appeal will be prison.
http://www.icenews.is/index.php/2009/11/18/iceland-bank-investigator-freezes-assets-in-case/
No fleeing to Russia here Brumley.
Insider trading laws are ridiculous in concept but they are the law.
Charged, convicted. Disgraced. Jail.
Sweet!